Say You Love Me
by SakineSamus
Summary: She pictured him as a gentleman, but she was getting the opposite of it.
1. Disappointment

**Note: **A remake of my Marth/Zelda fanfic. This is heavily based on a Taiwanese drama called _It Started With a Kiss_. I encourage romance-lovers to watch it. While writing this, the following songs: _Shuo Ni Ai Wo by S.H.E., Zhi Dui ni You Gan Jue by Fahrenheit, Come a Little Closer by Lara Veronin, Say You Love Me by Jason ft. Lara Veronin, Practical Joke by Wang Lan Yin, _and _Meet by Wang Lan Yin_, have heavily inspired me to continue and write this fanfic. Hope you enjoy it, and I am very determined to write this. It will most likely have a lot of chapters before I end it.

It was a bright day as the princess ran down the dusty stairs of her castle. Her tight flat shoes created dust in her path. She tried to hide the disappointment on her face from her passing servants.

"Be careful, Princess Zelda, you might hurt yourself!" one servant scolded and turned to see the scampering princess still at the same pace. Zelda was very wise for her young age, but listening to what others told her was something she couldn't stand. She loved freedom, and always wanted to have a taste of it, but because of her royalty, she was chained from reaching it. Stubbornly, she remained running until a young adult with a green tunic stood at the end of the stairs while holding a white envelope in his hand.

"Hi Zelda!" he smiled, oblivious to the speed she was going at.

"Link! Watch out!" she screamed and the two collided into each others painfully. Several of the worried servants gaped at the two. Link was sprawled onto the cold flooring with a light Zelda on top of his body, her chest against his and their two faces in close range. He could feel the warmth travel to his face causing him to blush a billion shades of red. His heart thumped continously, but in a way he hoped she would react the same way. Instead she merely blushed slightly from the embarrassment and without a bashful smile of some sort, she pushed herself off him and extended her white gloved arm out to help him get up. Disappointed that she wouldn't say a single peep, he grabbed her hand and picked up his bottom.

"I told you, Princess, you'd get hurt!" the previous servant snapped and continued her way up the stairs with a brown basket of neat, folded dresses in her basket. Zelda rolled her sapphire eyes, brushed the dust off her pink gown since all eyes were on her, and finally brought herself to smile pleasantly. Link could feel the heat rising to his cheeks again. For _her _smile, he would do anything.

"Link, may I talk to you outside my garden?" she whispered, pointing to the item in one of his hands. He nodded and the two took a stroll outside the beautiful, vast area filled with flowers and fragrance.

"Your garden looks so pretty," Link said with a voice almost as soft as a sigh. Zelda turned her head with a gesture of gratitude.

"Just like you," he flirted and beamed.

"Hey, ummm..." the princess stammered. She only shared friendship with him and nothing else. She knew he liked her because of his obviousness, and how much he confessed regarding his love for her. Unfortunately, she couldn't say a word about it, not anymore. She didn't bear deep feelings for him, maybe in the past, but not now.

"The letter, is it for the Super Smash Bros. Contest?" Link blinked dumbly.

".... Oh! This!?" he punched his fist with the crumpled sheet into the air.

"Yup!" he cheered and turned to look at the princess elf, but to only see her eyes grow dim and her long, pointy ears droop.

"What's wrong, Zelda?" he asked with deep concern, "And how did you know about the contest?"

"Ummm... I applied for the contest, but for some reason I didn't get the letter..." she mumbled disappointedly. Link's eyes widened with surprise and sheer disappointment at her decision.

"Wait, you wanted to join!?" he exclaimed. Poor Link had no idea she was going to enter a competition that was quite dangerous for a princess. The sad princess nodded, which Link did just the opposite.

"No... I won't allow it! Y-you'll get yourself killed!" he gripped his hands onto her shoulder with pleading eyes.

"Please, Zelda, I can't bear it... I can't bear the possibility we might go against each other," his eyes were darting left to right, as if to look for a way out of this or a way to convince her to be safe at home. Now the princess was furious; she was tired of him belittling her just because he had to rescue her several times. What did he think she did while she was captured by Ganondorf? Did he actually believe she would sit there and cry for Link like a little lost child? Secretly, she practiced magic so she could defend herself and save her kingdom. Of course, she could not say anything about it, or everyone in the castle would find her not fit as a princess since they believed it was not proper for a young lady to fight. As the tomboy she was, she couldn't let anyone in her way, even her best friend. Clenching her fists, she jolted out of the garden and into the castle. Feeling a little guilty, he cried for her, but she didn't come back.

"Why is she so mad!?" he said to himself almost as if he were shouting, "All I said was the absolute truth! I was just worried over her safety," he frowned with his pointy elf ears drooping. Standing there without anyone to accompany was getting kind of ridiculous, and since he knew Zelda would be too upset to even listen to him, he left without a farewell. Zelda, who wasn't exactly mad at him, locked herself upstairs in her room in thought.

Deeply upset, she flipped open a sheet of paper with an evelope. She stared into the sheet for awhile.

"I have to go," she mumbled to herself, "_he_ is coming..." her heart began to pound wildly at the thought of him. She reached into the drawer yet again and held out a scroll with a sketched picture of him.

The drawing depicted a man with short hair and an extravagant cape. He had a tiara on his head and was in his battle stance. She sighed dreamily and began to blush.

"Prince Marth of Altea," she breathed and looked up, day-dreaming of him, "it would be so nice to finally meet him in person!" the Hylian admired him, and after learning from an unknown source that he would appear in the Melee tournament, she was more than eager to see him, especially also learning that females were allowed to participate.

But her dreams of meeting him were fading rapidly; if she could not join the tournament, she didn't know what she would do. A light bulb just hovered over her head, and she threw out her ancient spell book. Tediously, she flipped through the vast amount of pages.

"How to Turn Others to Frogs...." She read softly to herself so only she could hear and continued to flip the pages. "Transformation....Aha!" She found a passage labeled, "How to Transport Yourself." Actually, she already knew how to teleport herself, but only in short distances. She needed to know how much energy she needed to transport to where the Smash Bros. contest would be. However, there was a flaw to your solution, where was the contest held? She thought hard, and remembered something the application said.

_"Meet at the center of the Mushroom Kingdom. If you have any questions, contact 1-800-259-3490 or if you do not have a telephone, come to Mushroom Kingdom and ask Toadsworth from Princess Peach Toadstool's castle for any questions."_ She squinted her eyes, recalling herself reading the extremely small print on the application. Thank goodness she read that, because for a moment she was pretty lazy and was about to disregard that part. Biting her lip, she determinedly focused on the book for any additional information. There, in a small print, almost as small as the information on the application itself, read:

".... you need to retrieve a pinch of pixie dust and three small strands of an elf." How convienent. Not only was she an elf, but she recalled having pixie dust already in her desk drawer. She remembered when she had to use it as a part of another magic spell in order to quickly transform to her alter ego, Sheik. Sheik had blonde hair with fiery red eyes and a blue suit that covered her head to toe. Her skills were almost impeccable when she became Sheik. When she transforms into her alter ego, she becomes a faster runner with excellent precision when executing her special moves. Although she was not as strong, it was a good disguise from the real self, and she was sometimes tired of wearing a long dress. The hems became dirtied often, and she would get lectured by her servants for something that couldn't be helped. She opened the drawer and pulled out a container filled with colorful pixie dust and looked at the directions:

"Grab a cup since you're going to need to drink this," she looked around and realized she would have to go downstairs in order to get some. In case anyone entered her room and tried to pry into her business, she shoved the items into her drawer and left the room.

"Going somewhere?" a male servant said while passing by her. She stopped dead in her tracks.

"I-I'm just going into the kitchen to get some water," Zelda replied coolly.

"You know, I'm your servant. I can get it for you," he offered.

"Oh, thanks," she beamed nervously and went back to her room which wasn't exactly far away. The servant sighed, not even bothering to know why she acted slightly jittery, and went down the extremely long stairs for her glass of water. Meanwhile, she decided it wasn't safe to pull out her spell book since her servant could come any minute, and lay down on the bed. Sometimes when she wasn't doing anything, she would try to imagine how it would be to become a queen. The pros were that she would be free to do anything she pleased, and she would get to watch her beloved kingdom. There were many cons listed as well. She would be quite busy worrying over the kingdom though, and she _had_ to marry a random prince which she disapproved. Why did it have to be a prince? All they did for her was arrive at her door and shower her with fake flattery. They tried too hard to capture the princesses's heart. It aggravated her too when her father would try to persuade her to marry someone. Automatically she shot down whoever came, and one time didn't even let a suitor enter the door. She desparately wanted a way out of her chains, but she couldn't because the moment she breaks them, the more persistant the chains would come to bring her down.

"Here's your water, Princess," the servant handed her a glass of water. She nodded in gratitude and carefully took the cup. Since he had more chores to finish, he slipped out of her room and headed to a different room. She set the cup down onto the desk and closed the door behind her. She grabbed the spell book and the pixie dust in front of her. Marking the spot she read last time, she flipped open the pages and read aloud:

"Warm the water until it boils," she had nothing to boil it with. She looked at her hands and decided using her magic skills was the best effort. A fire red ball floated on her right hand as she placed the fire near the glass. Not knowing, the glass began to melt as the liquid inside began to simmer.

"Ack! I wish I known this would happen!" she panicked at the melted side of the cup. Ignoring it, she looked at the directions and found that it was needed to have the pixie dust and the elf hair. Assuming the water is already warm, the fire in her hand disappeared, pinched the pixie dust, and sprinkled it into the warm liquid. The liquid turned into a different color, an indigo hue. Pulling out the three strands of her long, golden hair, she rubbed her head on the area she plucked the strands and watched them sink into the liquid, bubble, and disappear into the concoction. Now it became automatically transparent, which was quite strange in her eyes. Was her hair color really that odd enough to transform indigo into transparent? She scanned through the directions once more and read:

"Drink the potion. This will allow you more strength to reach even farther distances than before."

Smiling at her success, she quickly took a gulp of the potion and felt a surge of magical energy inside of her. To hide the possibility of her servants wondering what happened to the cup, she smashed the glass by throwing it onto the ground. Knowing they would come in any minute, she grabbed the potion, spell book, and container of pixie dust in the drawer and bent over to pretend she was trying to clean up the glass. A different servant bolted into her room.

"Princess Zelda, what happened?"

"I accidentally dropped the glass," she spoke innocently, "I know, I'm very clumsy!"

"Princess, you might cut your expensive gloves, let me clean that up," the servant sighed and scampered off to find a dustpan and a broom. Zelda sighed in relief and tiresome until the servant rushed back and swept up the broken remains of the glass.

"Please be careful next time, dear," she heaved a tired sigh and went back to work. Knowing the coast was clear now, she locked the door shut and was about to teleport out until she realized something. Tapping her head as if she was an idiot or forgetful, she surrounded herself with a magical aura and soon another clone walked from the real Zelda. The other woman looked exactly like Zelda and smiled.

"Cover for me while I'm gone, okay?" Zelda ordered. She nodded. Zelda liked to escape to many places, and did so by cloning herself. Now cloning herself was a spell she could easily do whatever she wanted to. She grabbed her letter left on the desk and transported.

**Note:** Sorry for the story's long absense! I finally found some bit of inspiration, but that doesn't mean I'll keep on updating regularly. Oh, and I'm making the chapters shorter. I got some critisizm that my chapters are too long that it makes others' lose interest due to their short attention spans. xD Hope you liked it.


	2. Overturning the Decision

Finally she transported to her destined area. She opened her eyes to find a strange area filled with weird looking mushrooms that gawked at her funny. Some had red spots on their heads and stump bodies.

"Hey, she appeared out of nowhere, she must be a part of Bowser's minions, GET HER!" they swarmed her as if thinking they could stop her from reaching their beloved princess in the castle.

"No, wait, I was wondering-Ah!" she yelped when a Toad yanked at her blonde hair. The Toads weren't really tough, but she wanted to be careful of not hurting them or else they'd really believe she was pure evil or _Bower's minions_ even though she had no clue what a Bowser is or who he or she was.

"What is all of this commotion!?" A mushroom with brown spots on his head and a glass over one of his eyes yelled over the chaos. He had a funny looking white moustache and a fancy brown vest with gold embroided on it. The other Toads looked at him and pointed at the beautiful elf that stood in the middle of the crowd.

"Excuse me, who are you?" he said trying hard not to be rude.

"Hi, um, I'm here regarding the Super Smash Bros. tournament," she shyly inputted.

".... Oh! I see, come this way." he cleared his throat and Zelda, who was happy to get out of the crowd of odd-looking mushrooms, stumbled to his side. Before the two left, he glared at the other mushrooms.

"Sorry I forgot to inform you all that there is a Smash Bros. contest and some contestants come here for questions to be answered. I know it's a little strange that someone from another kingdom comes here, but please mind all your manners!" he lectured the mushrooms out there and opened the gate to the castle. The large gate had a huge, gold star with black oval eyes plastered and a vast blue background as if it were the color of the night sky. He rushed her into the castle. It was large and bright. The ceilings looked as if it resembled the peaceful sky of the daytime, and the doors were red with some tints of gold on the borders. This was an amazing sight, because her castle always looked dark and dreary. No matter how many servants there were, her castle was always dusty. This one practically looked brand new, and sparkled remarkably. Many other funny looking mushrooms walked around, cleaning the castle which she thought wasn't necessary since it already looked clean itself. The small, old mushroom hurried her into the room in the right. The room looked like it was an office since it had a large desk with a strange, white box and a case full of colorful, large books. She gazed upon the room as if it was a big mystery, and only her eyes could solve it.

"My name is Toadsworth, I'm the organizer of the entire competition. What is your name, dear?" he introduced himself and sat at the chair that looked incredibly too big for him. He offered her a seat right across the desk.

"I am Zelda, Princess of Hyrule," she respectfully bowed.

"Hmmm... I see, you're a princess, huh," he croaked and cleared his throat again, "I know it seems a little unfair, but the rule is that someone that has royalty running in the family that is a prince or princess must have permission from the king or queen," Zelda's jaw dropped.

"B-but, I-I don't understand, this wasn't a part of the agreement!" Zelda exclaimed, astonished by the new rule. Toadsworth took out a sheet covered with black ink, the application. Somewhere on the notice there were another stanza of words, even smaller and less noticable than the contact paragraph. After she read it, she knew she was in deep water. She knew she could never get permission to join the other Smashers.

"I'm truly sorry, Princess Zelda, but there is no way I can jeapardize Master Hand in any way. If your guardians found out what we are doing, there will be huge consequences," the mushroom, in the best way he could, tried to persuade the bewildered princess into agreeing or understanding him. She shook her head defiantly, trying to get her point across without making it look like she were a whining child.

"I have to enter this competition," she said sternly, her voice nearly shaking since this was her first time freely speaking.

"It's... My pride. I can't just walk home empty-handed." her voice broke off. She was absolutely determined about joining the competition. Because she desired to be herself and meet the charming man she had adored for so long.

"Toadsworth!" a high pitched voice called in with a sweet ring to it. Another princess swung open the door while another white gloved hand gripped the bottom of her extremely long dress. She had shiny blue ornaments hanging down her earlobes, vibrant gold hair, and huge, sparkling blue eyes. Her rosy cheeks were conspicuous against her pale skin, and her dress was long and flowing, very poofy. She looked unproportionate, with ears that barely stuck out and a head that was even large than Zelda's. Nonetheless, her overall appearance looked cute.

"I was supposed to have my manicure hours ago!" she whined, taking off her silky white glove and wincing at her pink nails. Tearing her eyes away from her slender fingers, she looked upon Zelda. Zelda wore a shining tiara across her forehead, and a long pink gown that stretched to the floor. Zelda could have seen her gaping at her long, pointy ears.

"Oh... Who's this?" the cute princess asked in surprise and embarrassment.

"She is Princess Zelda from Hyrule," Toadsworth informed the dumb-founded blonde.

"I apologize," the other princess curtsied through giggles, "I am Princess Peach Toadstool of the Mushroom Kingdom," she beamed proudly and walked over to where Toadsworth and Zelda were.

"What's the trouble, hun?"

"I... Really want to come to the Smash Bros. competition," Zelda said meekly.

"I see. Did you get your invitation yet? Or did you at least sign the application?"

"I signed the application, but I didn't recieve an invitation," Zelda replied a little sadly.

"Princess Peach, there is no way she can enter. She needs permission from the King or Queen of Hyrule!"

"Well, that's too bad," Peach drawled loftily. The blonde elf's heart froze.

"What is all that racket?" Toadsworth blurted after several commotions outside of the room and stepped out, "Please excuse me for a moment, princesses," Zelda was looking at reality straight in the face. Maybe she should not have even come here in the first place. Even if she knew she couldn't overturn the final decision, she mustered all her courage.

"I... I want to join, so very badly," she continued, Peach merely looked at her with a sad look on her face.

"I'm sorry hun, but you know that," she was interrupted.

"It's because... I want to deliver this..." Zelda revealed the envelope in front of her, which was quite tarnished in the mushroom princess's eyes.

"What's this?" she gasped and saw the neat cursive writing, "To Prince Marth Lowell of Altea, From Princess Zelda of Hyrule."

Bashfully, the Hylian princess darted her eyes, avoiding eye contact with the other blonde in front of her.

"Why... Is this... A love letter?" she guessed, and soon she began to squeal like a little child, "How adorable!" she giggled.

"I wanted to give it to him," she bit her lip from humiliation, "but since I can't go, then can you deliver it to him for me?"

"Nonsense! I wouldn't bother to do such a thing!" Peach rejected, "No! _You_ will deliver it to him in **person**! Come with me, dear! You're going to the tournament or my name is not Princess Peach Toadstool!"

Coincidentally, the brown Toad waddled back into the room.

"Princess, one of the inexperienced chefs just exploded the cake," he squinted irritably. Peach brushed past Zelda and tugged at Toadsworth's little arm.

"Nevermind that, Toadsworth," she disregarded whatever he said.

"Would you like me to fire them?" he asked.

"No, I want you to allow Princess Zelda to join the competition!" Zelda's eyes widened along with her servant's.

"Princess!" he gasped, "I apologize, but that is something I can not do!"

"Oh please, Toadsworth, you can let that slip. Just give her the invitation already," Peach smiled. She seemed like an easy-going person with no worries. How could she be this way? Zelda was always in a rush and a hurry to do whatever she needed to do. This princess acted like she had all the time in the world, and so optimistic.

"Princess, you need to realize that I'm in control of organizing the contestants and if I allow Zelda to enter without permission from her guardians than if Master Hand gets sued, you know he'll blame it all on me!" Toadsworth exclaimed with sheer worry. He was not only afraid of getting the boss in trouble, but himself too.

"Pshh, so what? _I'm_ in the competition, too! I didn't need any permission to get in!" Peach remarked.

"But Princess... You have no guardians." He replied shyly, hoping he hadn't upset her.

"If she can't go, then I can't go..." Peach bit her lip softly, "And if I can't go, that'll make me really sad," her large eyes glistened with tears. There was a pleading sorrow in her eyes as Toadsworth's face turned pale, and he cringed in horror at the pitiful sight.

"P-please, P-pr-princess Peach, p-please don't s-stoop low to do this!" Toadsworth stammered and frowned sympathetically at the crying Princess. It looked as if her pain was hurting him deeply. He always did care for her.

"F-fine!" he cried aloud, "I'll let Princess Zelda enter the fray!" Peach wiped her tears away and beamed cheerfully.

"Knew I could get you in, honey!" she winked at the elf. Toadsworth grumbled some incoherent words, but Zelda could make out that he hated himself for being such a pushover whenever Princess Peach wanted something that he disapproved of. The old mushroom pulled out a drawer and pulled out a stack of papers. He handed Zelda the invitation and another small sheet of paper.

"There are a few conditions that follow this, though," he said, possibly trying to be a little more tougher than he usually is.

"You have to sign this contract. If you are kidnapped, we will hold no responsibilities of your well-being and only treat physical injuries after a fight. Your guardians will NOT be able to pull you out of the competition and can not sue us for letting you enter without their notice. You sure you want to take these risks?" his eyes gleamed, challenging her pride. Zelda hesitated for a moment, then nodded. Toadsworth handed her a pen.

"... What's this for?" Zelda picked it up and looked at it. She scanned the pen and through the entering. When she accidentally clicked the top of the pen, a strange looking tip was pushed forward and shocked her for a moment.

"That's... A pen..." Toadsworth mumbled like she was some sort of idiot.

"What's a pen?" Zelda giggled while looking at the pen and continuedly clicked.

"... It's used to write," Princess Peach gaped at her funny.

"To write!? Like a quill?" She narrowed her eyes at the funny-looking object in her hand. Peach and Toadsworth turned their heads to look at each other in confusion and disbelief.

"Ummm... Yes...?" Peach replied, not even sure what a quill was actually. It took awhile for Zelda to use the pen correctly, and wrote her signature on the black line a little messily.

"Sorry if it looks sloppy, but it feels funny using this... 'Pen'... It feels all cold," she laughed a little and began clicking the pen a billion more times. Slightly annoyed, Toadsworth grabbed the pen in her hand and shoved it into a glass cup full of other of the same pens. Suddenly, Peach remembered her manicure, picked up, and left the room.

"Another thing you must do," Toadsworth tried to hide the exasperation from his eyes and voice, "Please type up all the Smashers' names onto the computer and then pair up everyone with at least someone. Remember, separate the boys and girls. It won't be too hard, since there are only four female participants," he stood up from his chair and invited Zelda to sit on it. Reluctantly she eyed the strange white box. The screen was so dark and vast, as if there was a dark hole. She reached out to touch the screen but was touching something quite warm.

"Excuse me, don't touch the screen, you'll smudge it," Toadsworth said almost sounding as if he were snapping. Zelda did as she was told. For a few minutes she and Toadsworth stayed there in silence.

"Allow me to turn it on for you." He pressed a button that was on the bottom of the screen. An image of Princess Peach appeared on the desktop wearing a plain pink bikini. In total astonishment, Toadsworth's face turned scarlet fast as he shoved Zelda's chair aside to change the desktop.

"Forgive me, but this is... the Princess's computer," he croaked humiliatedly. First he gets pushed over by Peach, and next he probably looks like an old pervert to Zelda. Zelda's face flushed lightly from embarrassment, but she managed to smile as if saying 'it's okay.'

".... What do I do?" she asked shyly. Toadsworth collapsed to the floor.

"Didn't I go over the instructions for you already!?" he shouted with a vein throbbing at his temple. Frustrated at this lost girl, he gave up and flopped outside to cool himself off from what he just did.

"Yeah... But I don't know..." she broke off as she tried to imitate him by moving the mouse as well. She clicked it randomly, making a thin line by holding onto the left button of the mouse and dragging it all over the desktop. "Interesting!" she gasped with her eyes widened. She looked below at the dusty keyboards.

"What is this?" She questioned and pressed a few random buttons which made a beeping sound. Thinking she had no other option, she started pressing more and more buttons.

"Maybe this will work!" she giggled, "This is fun!"

"I wonder if that weird girl is done," Toadsworth sighed and was headed on his way when he heard a large explosion occur. Where was it coming from? Panicked, his first instinct was to hustle Peach out of the castle in case it could be Bowser trying to enter, but then his logical side surfaced and knew if he tried to save Peach, she would snap at him saying he should put guests above all others. He decided to rush to Zelda's aid. Good thing he hadn't tried to panic anyone else either, because just by opening the door, he could find the culprit. Amongst the dark ashes and the empty, now black desk sat Zelda left untouched. It wasn't a fairly large explosion, but loud enough that almost everyone in the castle could surely hear. Impatiently, Toadsworth vigorously tapped his brown shoe with folded arms. Zelda watched him, blushing slightly after the mess she had created, and was quick to avert his gaze by looking at the ashened desk. Soon Peach rushed into the room, tackling the door in front of her to check if everyone was alright.

"Zelda! Are you okay-Zelda!?" her eyes widened in horror when she saw her beloved computer burnt to bits. She rushed to Toadsworth side, whom the short mushroom was now furiously glaring at Zelda.

"... I'm really sorry," Zelda whimpered with a pleading look in her dim eyes. The two noticed her ears droop. Looking at the pitiful sight, Peach shook her head in sympathy and astonishment.

"That is it! I've had it with your stupidity! Get out! Get out now!!!" Toadsworth was now snarling, losing all his manners. Upset at his reaction, Peach grabbed him before he could get to where Zelda sat.

"Uhhh, Zelda, what were doing, hun?" she asked patiently.

"Toadsworth told me to help him by pairing everyone up randomly with a roomate," Zelda spoke sensitively since she was not too happy he considered her 'stupid.' Actually, the princess is a very intelligent young adult. She is extremely wise and learned from her mistakes. However, when it came to unknown technology, she becomes clueless. Trying to redeem herself, Zelda picked up a pad and a pen from a cup.

"M-maybe I can write down all of the Smashers and then randomly group them together?" Zelda said nervously. Normally, if Toadsworth had the chance, he would tell her to leave, but since Peach was there, practically forcing him to give her another chance with her constant glarings towards his direction, he nodded.

"This is the last chance I'm giving you," Toadsworth sighed, "Next time you're out of the competition!"

Beaming happily, Zelda used her magic spell to clear the ashes and set the pad and pen onto the desk to get to work. Peach and Toadsworth looked at the young princess in amazement after she did that magic trick. The two signaled to leave her to work and shut the door behind them.

"Did you just see that, Princess?" Toadsworth asked the obvious.

"Of course I did! I'm not blind!" Peach snapped, her hands folded together against the sapphire on her chest.

"I think... She really can fight..." he stated surprisingly.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

_"I'm so tired..." Zelda mumbled to herself sleepily and rubbed her tired eyes. She had been awake all the way to midnight, which was her unusual curfew. At the castle, she always had to sleep earlier than that. She just about finished the pairs and other paperwork and flopped onto her desk, her ring finger sore. _

_Painfully, she slipped the white glove off her arm to look at her finger with a huge, red lump on the side of the ring finger. Tiredly, she groaned and was losing conciousness of what was around her. Her tired eyes drooped slowly, and her head rested upon the desk._

_"Zelda, are you done?" a certain blonde princesses cracked the door open by a few inches and spotted the sleeping beauty. The list was left on top of the desk under her arms. Frowning, she carefully took the list without waking her up._

The princess awoke to find herself sprawled on a small bed with a few sheets of blankets on top of her. The outermost blanket was blue with a huge gold star on it, similar to the colors of the gate outside. Puzzled, she shoved the heavy loads of quilts off her and placed her bare feet onto the cold floor. She jolted backwards onto the bed again when she felt her feet touched the ground. It was extremely cold as she massaged her feet. She always had slippers back at Hyrule. Soon she discovered pink fuzzy slippers on the floor.

"Ah! What is that!?" Zelda brought her knees up to her chin, scared of the fuzziness of the pair on the floor. Lightly with her foot, she tapped the object a few times and convienently found herself putting her own foot into the entering. It did look like a regular show, just huge and poofy. Realizing it's safe, she slipped her other foot into the other slipper and sat up from her bed. The wallpaper had a skyblue with little pictures of bright red airplanes that looked like a child drew it. Zelda huffed and pushed the gold locks that hung over her visage and went out of the room. To her surprise, she saw Princess Peach standing outside the door with a flowing white gown.

"Zelda, how was your sleep?" she said through her yawning. Zelda didn't know how to respond. The poor princess was in confusion and had no idea why she was still here. Peach could easily read her face, though.

"You fell asleep while working for Toadsworth, so I brought you here," Peach smiled.

"Thank you, Princess Peach, but I think I should go home now."

"Why? We have to go to the Smash Bros. contest soon. It's located not too far from here..."

"I know, but..." Zelda's eyes widened in horror when she realized she forgot her pixie dust. Without it, how could she brew a potion to get home in time? With her teleporting skills now, it is far too weak. If she goes on home, she might not be here on time to reach to the contest. She could ask Peach if there were any known pixies existing, but it could be dangerous since if pixies existed, the dust might not be the same ones in Hyrule. Also since Peach and Toadsworth probably already think she's weird, and if she asks for pixies which might not exist here, they'll look at her even funnier. Zelda couldn't find a way out of the situation.

"What's wrong, dear?" Peach cocked her head to the side and put her hand on her hips.

"I... Need my clothes..." Zelda averted her gaze shamefully.

"No need! You can borrow my clothes." Peach beamed.

"I wanted to study my spell book." Zelda stopped and looked directly into her eyes.

"... I'm pretty sure you'll do fine without it." Peach responded, "Besides, I think you're very skilled."

"How do you know?" Zelda asked, not remembering when Peach saw her skills.

"Yesterday when my computer exploded, you were left unharmed." Peach noted.

"I shielded myself then, but I really don't know if I..."

"Oh quit being so modest, Zelda!" Peach interrupted impatiently. "You'll do fine! You just need some self-confidence in yourself!" She grabbed the girl's wrist and pulled her up the stairs, into another door. The second level looked exactly like the first level. Who knew the bright red door with a huge star on it led to another level? The princess hustled Zelda into the room straight across. The room had a soft, peach pink carpet with beige wallpaper. Peach glided across her room to a light brown cabinet and started shuffling inside the drawer.

"See! You can borrow my dress, and maybe if we're close to any malls, we can go shopping for some new clothes, too!" Peach beamed and pulled out a white dress similar to the other sorts of dresses she wore. When Zelda changed her clothes, the dress Peach gave to her seemed a little big. Of course, Peach's body looked skinny, but nowhere as skinny as Zelda's. Peach gaped funny at the dress on her.

"Okay... Maybe wearing my dresses isn't such a good idea." Peach nervously giggled. "We definitely need to do some shopping later." Peach took Zelda's original dress. "I'll wash this!"

"Oh, you don't need to..." Zelda reached out a hand as if to stop her. First blowing up the computer, next taking refuge of their hospitality, and now Peach was going to wash her clothes? She felt it was too disrespectful to ask for this.

"It's alright, dear." Peach said coolly, "Toad!!!" A stumpy mushroom appeared. Peach handed the dress to him and told him to wash it for her. The mushroom nodded and scampered away. Funny, she thought Peach was actually going to wash it herself, not knowing her idea of calling it 'washing' was to give it to someone else to do the job. The blonde princess clapsed her hands together cheerfully.

"I can't wait for the competition," Peach grinned and faced Zelda. The elf princess couldn't say anything, but faked a smile. She wondered if it was really all worth it now. Her pride self wanted her to continue, but another part of her felt like trapping herself in her room. In her heart, she was beginning to miss the safety of Hyrule.

**AU:** I'm sorry if I made Zelda seem 'dumb' when she was messing around with the technology, but I put a little bit of myself. I'm fine with technology, but when it comes to cellphones, I'm really stupid LOL! Just, Zelda hadn't seen any of those things and it'd be weird if she could use them perfectly. Also, I'm tired of some people portraying Zelda as a perfect girl and I really want to try to add some cons to her. Hope you liked it. :)


	3. Prince Martha

"Looks like we're here." Peach chirped as she stepped out of her pink limousine. It was around six o' clock, near night time. A couple of Toads stepped out of the vehicle to pick up her luggages. Nervously, Zelda stepped out of the car. Oblivious to her paleness, Peach spotted a red-capped man with a bushy moustache, button nose, and a stump, short body.

"Peachie!" the Italian man shouted in glee and rushed towards her. A man with a green cap was far behind the running man. He had a moustache, too, but shaped differently, with the same round nose, and a taller, skinnier body type. He held large luggages beside him, sweating heavily.

"Wait, Mario! You got to help-a me carry tha luggages!" the green man groaned and tried to waddle his way to him. By the time he made it, Peach and the red capped man were hugging each other. Peach planted a kiss on his forehead. Knowing she had forgotten about Zelda's prescence, she signaled her to come over.

"This is Mario," she said in such a sweet, loving tone while holding his white gloved hand.

"Hello, Mario. I am Zelda, Princess of Hyrule," Zelda curtsied politely.

"Hmmm... You look quite-a familiah," Mario rubbed his chin. He had a funny, Italian accent.

"Do you know someone named-a Link?" he narrowed his huge, light blue eyes at her pointy ears.

"Yes! He is my good _friend_," she was happy to share some connections with Mario.

"Did you come here last year?"

"Yup! I was tha winnah of this contest!" Mario boasted. Peach giggled and placed a loving hand on his shoulder.

"This is Peach and Luigi's first time here, too," Mario resumed, "oh, Luigi!" he shouted, turned around, and accidentally bumped into his brother who he never knew was right there all along.

"Ow!!!!" Luigi yelped and covered the bruise on his flabby nose.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, Brother!" Mario half embarrassedly exclaimed.

"This isn't tha first time you hurt my face!" Luigi whimpered, "You hurt-a me during tennis, too!"

"Zelda!" someone rushed from the crowd, knocking people left and right.

"Link!" she gasped, forgetting he was coming here. The blond elf neglected the other green being near Zelda and Mario and pushed him aside. Luigi flailed about and landed on his nose.

"Wow, I can't believe he let you come," he referred to her father.

"You're not mad?"

"As long as you don't cause any mischeif and watch out for Ganondorf," he sighed and then turned to Mario, "long time no see."

"Yeah," Mario said, "learn anything new?" The two resumed their conversation. Peach was helping Luigi onto his feet. For a brief moment, Zelda felt a little left out. She didn't know anyone, and everyone around her seemed to have someone to talk to.

She looked around area. They were in front of the mansion with other Smashers surrounding it. There were strange people and creatures. Few of them were small, like the two yellow rodents that zoomed through the place with such incredible speed. There were even little kids, such as the little boy with a red cap and eskimo twins.

"What are you looking at, Zelda?" Luigi asked while rubbing his sore nose.

"How come there are little kids in the competition?" she pointed to the little boy with the red cap.

"That's Ness. He was in tha competition last year. Don't underestimate-ah him. He's-ah really tough; a troublemaker," he shuddered at the reminder of their match last year.

A station wagon pulled up a few minutes later. There was a sudden pounding in Zelda's heart. The carriage looked refined, like royalty. _Royalty._ Her hand flew over to her mouth. Could it be?

A gentleman stepped out. At first glance, she only spotted his boots, the bottom of his sword case, and his hair. His hair gave out his identity immediately. The swordsman was no other than the noble Prince Marth. Her face was redenning, and she was ready to melt.

Marth was even more handsome compared to the silly illustration back home. A regal tiara lay on his soft, blue hair, and his dark eyes were quite feminine. Like a fangirl, the princess had a hard time choking back her squeals and tears. She felt as if she were to faint.

"Thanks for giving me a ride here," another swordsman popped out of the wagon. He had spiky red hair and a playful grin. He was a few inches shorter than Marth, and his cape was crimson.

"Your welcome," Marth noted, but his expression remained cold. The Hylian princess gazed at him as if recording every movement he made. The Altean prince felt a prescence near him, spying his every move. Everytime he looked, however, Zelda turned her head away to avert his gaze. He turned away again while talking to Roy, and each moment he turned to spot his 'stalker,' Zelda was always quick to leave him clueless.

"What's wrong, Marth?" the spiky red-head asked.

"I keep having the feeling that I'm being watched," Marth uttered.

"Uhh, I think that girl over there is looking at you," his friend pointed to the blonde afar. Once she realized she was spotted, she turned away hastily, her heart beating even more rapidly.

"That tiara, pale skin, and dress... She's a princess!" He gleefully shouted with excitement, "She looks cute! Marth, don't you want to see her!?" His eyes glistened in excitement. He was probably interested in seeing a princess here. The teenager grabbed Marth to his side and pointed at the Zelda.

"Don't underestimate anyone in this competition," he replied impassively. Ignoring his blue-haired friend's words, the energetic teenager grabbed his wrist and charged towards Zelda.

By they time he came, Mario, Luigi, and Link scampered off to talk to another Italian man that looked the exact same as Mario but with a doctor get-up.

"Greetings to you, my majesty, I have just arrived here, and as I am born from royalty, I cannot allow myself to look the other direction opposite of you. I have come to introduce myself, your highness, I am Roy," the spiky haired boy spoke with such grace as he knelt and lowered his head down politely. The Hylian blinked dumbfoundedly..

"Pleased to meet you, Sir Roy," Peach piped. Zelda had difficulty interracting amongst other strangers. Pented up in her castle, she rarely had occasions of meeting new people.

"And this is my friend," he placed his hand behind Marth's back, giving him a light push.

"Marth!" Peach squealed breaking formality. Her eyes and voice indicated such closeness. The bashful elf wondered what kind of bond they shared.

"It has been awhile, Princess Peach," Marth responded coolly, which chilled Zelda to the bone yet sent a carressing warmth around her heart. Her cheeks turned pink. Marth had a long, flowing dark blue cape with an armor on his chest that matched the color. His dark blue eyes sparkled beautifully, like the golden tiara on his soft, blue hair. However, there was a coldness in his gaze that reflected his miseries. Why was he sad? There was a beautiful aura surrounding him, how mysterious he was.

"I am Marth, Prince of Altea," he eyed Zelda.

"I-I am P-princess Zelda," her throat became parched, her temple was leaking of sweat, and her body became tremulous. Nontheless, she mustered her courage to at least mimick her cheerful companion's demeanor and formally introduce herself.

"There, satisfied?" Marth spat at Roy dryly. Roy remained in his spot, exchanging insightful conversations with the pink princess while Marth darted his eyes everywhere. Awkwardness lingered between the two royalties. Marth was not much of a talker, to Zelda's dismay. Should she dare striking up a conversation with the handsome prince that stood before her, or should she cower in silence? She looked at Marth again. He was just so incredibly handsome. His armor and sword symbolized such strength, and the dazzling tiara reflected a noble person underneath the cold exterior. He looked like the perfect man for her, and she really wanted to talk to him. Clearing her throat, she stepped a few inches closer to him. Because he was looking elsewhere, she lightly tapped him on the shoulder. He gave full attention to her.

"So... How is Altea like?" Zelda asked, hoping she would stop shaking or blushing.

"....." The prince had nothing to comment. Uncomfortable, Zelda decided to say something else.

"Your... Tiara looks really pretty."

"Whatever," He finally replied unenthusiastically and looked away again. Maybe she shouldn't have tried talking to him. Without another word, he turned to isolation.

"What do I do? He is leaving," Zelda thought to herself, nervously biting her lip. Soon she recalled the love letter tucked in her blouse.

"Should I give it to him now?" she glanced at the note, "He's leaving!" her eyes widened when she saw the huge gap between them. Impusively, she dashed towards the handsome prince.

"Prince Marth!" she called out, adrenaline speeding her sprint. The oblivious prince did not hear anything, but was in complete shock when the clumsy princess barraled into him with such force. Her red high heels stepped onto his long cape, and the two tumbled onto the ground. Everyone who was at the mansion turned to see what the commotion was about.

Their position ended up awkward. Marth was on flat on his stomach while Zelda was on top of his back.

"I-I'm so sorry, Prince Marth," she stammered, pain whirling her into a state of confusion. However, when she attempted to pull herself away from the stunned man, a loud tear could be heard. Thus she had realized her heel penetrated through his cape, and when she yanked her leg away, the tear enlarged.

"I'm sorry!" she repeated once more but with more panic in her voice. Marth had just realized the damages she caused and menacingly glared at her.

"I'll fix your cape if you want me to," Zelda blurted, not even knowing how to sew in the first place. Her hands reached for the cape, but Marth stopped them with abrupt force.

"Don't even do anything," he snarled, trying so hard to keep his temper in check. Guilt panged the poor blonde-haired princess. The love letter lay scattered on the ground. She picked it up and held it to her chest. No way would she even attempt to even give it to him after the fiasco.

Hence the name Master Hand, the floating hand hovered to the scene with another hand that looked like him but with jittery fingers that moved very fast towered over everyone along with a turtle that had a green shell on its back holding some silver keys. Another creature scuttled behind the turtle balancing a stack full of paper. It was brown, similar to a mushroom, but still far from looking like the mushrooms in Mushroom Kingdom.

"Good news, you all get a full week of practice and rest before the actual competition begins," the crazy looking twin hand bellowed hyperly. Everyone in the crowd looked at each other in approvement.

"Bad news, since the mansion is quite small, you will have to share rooms with someone," the crowd's once cheerful faces twisted into disappointment and frowns.

"To make matters worse, we even chose partners for you," the Crazy Hand said with somewhat cheerfulness, like it was funny. The mob of fighters became agitated.

"What!? This is an outrage!" A large turtle with spikes as sharp as daggers on his deep green shell roared ferociously. His white with tints of yellow claws were no duller than the ones on his back.

"Yeah, I agree with that ugly turtle!" Ganondorf, Zelda's long-term nemesis, shouted amongst the crowd, "I definitely don't wanna have paper as my roomate!" He rudely pointed towards a black, thin figure. The figure looked down pitifully.

"That's not nice!" A pink puffball retorted with furrowed eyebrows.

"What you want me to say? He makes good toilet paper!?" Ganondorf snapped.

"Well he's got a point," an orange robot exclaimed, "I hope you had the brains to make sure you separated the men and women," and glared at the burly man beside her through her visor.

"ENOUGH!" Master Hand echoed throughout the entire field. "The next one to complain will be automatically booted off the competition." It looked like Ganondorf was about to retort something, but when vivid blue electricity emitted from the threatning hand's finger tips, he closed his mouth while trying to hide the fear in his eyes.

"Anyway, you each will have a sheet showing which room you'll occupy in, and who your roomate is. If you have any questions or complaints, Toadsworth is inside the mansion in the office."

"So all this time he could have just opened the mansion for us!?" A brown ape spouted. Tired of their complains, both hands decided to ignore it. As the sheets were passed out, a few of them recieved their sheet. They walked up to their roomate, with either cheerful faces or disappointment.

Zelda contemplated for a few moments. She could see several excited faces and some exhausted, grumpy ones. For sure, the black figure she had noticed earlier was in no happy mood when he discovered his roommate would be the one who addressed him as toilet paper.

Princess Peach found her partner, the one covered in an orange suit. Obviously, the blonde greeted her flashing a lovely smile. Zelda was slightly disappointed when she could not have her as her roommate. There were only about four female Smashers, excluding the two eskimo twins off the far corner.

When she recieved her sheet, she was not prepared for what she was going to see.

".... Wait... Throughout my entire time, I never met a..." Her eyes widened in horror. An oblivious Link appeared by her side. Holding up his sheet, he tapped Zelda's shoulder.

"Hey Zelda, who did you get as your roomate? I got someone named Donkey Kong," he said oblivious to the fact she wasn't paying attention. His eyes moved to the direction of her sheet, but he was not able to glance at it because all of a sudden, she bolted to the mansion. While running amock, she randomly stepped on a small, round Pokemon.

"I'm sorry!" She breathed inaudibly. It puffed up its already large cheeks and pulled the red flower on its head. Some of the flower petals crumbled onto the ground. Violently, Zelda slammed the door open with panic in the pit of her stomach. Turning to her left, she fiercly opened the glass door to find the familiar Toadsworth working on some of his tasks, she hurriedly scrambled to his poorly lit desk.

"T-there is a mistake... on my sheet!" She panted and slapped the paper onto his table.

"You mean, you admit that you made another mistake?" Toadsworth remarked, keeping his cool.

"MY NAME IS NOT 'MARTHA'!" Marth entered so quietly yet roared loudly. His black gloved arms were crossed impatiently as his eyebrows furrowed threateningly.

"Who is the idiot that altered my name?" He raked his blue hair, trying to keep his patience. Zelda gasped in humiliation. Already he probably thinks of her weird, but if he found out she made the mistake, then he would probably hate her for life. While Zelda worked on sorting out names, yesterday, she must have accidentally marked Marth's name as 'Martha,' and when she finally began sorting them into groups, she believed 'Martha' was a female and chose 'Martha' as her roommate. Clearing his throat, Toadsworth's eyes slanted to Zelda's direction to her surprise. Desparately, Zelda tried shaking her head in the most possible way to signal to him without Marth's notice. Toadsworth chose to ignore her silent pleas.

"Princess Zelda was helping me write down everyone's names and sorting them as partners, so she must have wrote your name incorrectly," Toadsworth said with a smug look on his face. The princess's heart turned to stone. Another pair barged through the doors and rushed to Toadsworth's desk.

"Toadsworth, you-a paired me up with a girl." Luigi pointed to the pink puffball Zelda saw earlier. A smile crept over Zelda's visage. She was hoping maybe she could trade roommates with Luigi so she wouldn't have to be cooped up in an uncomfortable atmosphere with Marth who probably loathes her very existance.

"I see... Jigglypuff, that's your name right?" Jigglypuff nodded, "Would you want to be with Zelda as your roomate?" The creature turned to look at Zelda, and all of a sudden she started ranting in some gibberish language.

"JIGGLY-JIG JIGGLYPUFF!!!! PUFF!!!!" A vein throbbed on her temple, or if it was hers as her cheeks began to swell stubbornly, her stubby arms against the side of her large puffiness.

"Could we get a translater here?" Toadsworth grumbled exasperatedly. Jigglypuff bounced out of the room, fumes penetrating through her plump body. Few minutes later she entered the room again while dragging a lavendar Pokemon into the room. The creature rolled his eyes.

"She... Wants me to translate." Mewtwo grumbled and crossed his arms impatiently. The little Pokemon fumed irritatingly as Mewtwo looked at her and nodded, as if he understood everything she said.

"She says she would rather share a room with a coward than someone who just stepped on her." Luigi cringed. He was deathly afraid of Jigglypuff since he had no idea what she was.

"Very well, then, you will all just have to keep the pairs." Toadsworth announced. Mewtwo, Jigglypuff, and Luigi left the room, leaving an extremely nerve-wrecked Zelda standing so still.

"Uhhh, uhhh, Toadsworth, didn't you say I'd have to leave if I made another mistake?" She inputted.

"Yes," Toadsworth replied unattentively, "but I find it better to make you suffer than send you home."

"WHAT!? You hate me that much!?" Zelda exclaimed in full astonishment and then turned around. Marth was nowhere in sight. The frightened princess gulped in agony. Super Smash Bros. was probably going to be a long time. Great, she had to be stuck in a room with someone who probably thought she was a 'freak,' and to make matters worse, she actually cared about what he thought, because every single time she looked at him, he would cause her heart to thump wildly.

**AN:** It feels nice to go back from the start. I know it took awhile just to upload this chapter, but really, I've been busy with life. While writing this story, I was undergoing a lot of stress, trying to balance things between my computer time, friends time, hobby time, etc. I'm also planning on creating a machinima of Brawl sometime. But those plans are pushed to the summer when I have more free time. As for the Olimar story, I do not know what to do with it. I really don't want to abandon it, and I think it's almost impossible to make a machinima out of it without getting flames from stupid people. I guess I'll write it, but most likely it will be written in the summer or even later. I don't know, but I'm determined to not let it down the drain. Please read and review, thanks. Sorry for the ramble.


	4. Disagreements

**AN:** Hi guys! I finally got to updating! I'm so happy I got out of writer's block for now. It's summer, so now I can keep writing. I would love to keep writing until the end, you know. I've pictured the same scene of the ending of this fic for so long and I want to incorporate it here so badly. Thanks for everyone who was patient, and hope you like it. Prepare for many scenes of Marth/Zelda bickers. Enjoy!

It took quite a while until Zelda was able to reach the incredibly long stairs. Panting heavily, she dragged herself to open the knob of her room. It was locked. She recalled not picking up the keys earlier. Perhaps Marth had already picked it up for her? Tiredly, she began banging on the door, hoping he was in there so she could rest her exhausted body onto the bed or take a nice warm shower.

"Oh God, he's not here yet," she whined and leaned the back of her head against the door. All of a sudden the door pulled open, leaving the astonished Hylian tumbling backwards. The man inside dodged her.

"Marth!" Zelda cried, blushing fervently. Merely, he rolled his eyes at the sight of the fallen princess. Thinking he was being a bit too rude, he extended an arm to help the poor princess. Zelda got up without taking his arm.

"I can get up myself," she retorted in a slightly rude way. Although she liked him, she felt a little upset over his impoliteness. Acting like a proper lady, she brushed the dust off her light pink dress, picked up her suitcase, and thrust it. The bed looked plain, with a thin blue sheet on top. It was a bunk-bed, to Zelda's relief.

Throughout the entire time when she clambored up the stairs, she was afraid she would have to sleep next to him or something, which she was not mentally prepared for. Marth sat at a small bench near the window. He glanced outside, and then picked up a thick novel and began reading it. Zelda looked at his hair; it appeared he had taken a shower already since his tiara was missing.

"How'd you get here so fast?" Zelda frowned, slipping off her long gloves that reached past her elbows.

"Same way you did," Marth replied, his eyes not leaving the book. She was even surprised he'd answer her.

"But... Those stairs are long and tiresome!" She commented.

"No it wasn't, you're just weak," he closed his book shut and placed it besides him. Her heart began to beat even faster when he looked straight into her eyes. Even if it had no longer any sparkles, the warmth crept to her face. Snapping out of her loving trance, she realized he had insulted her.

"... Hey! I am not weak!" She crossed her gloveless arms, "I know a lot of magic skills!"

"Then why didn't you magically poof your luggage upstairs?" He teased. Her jaw dropped. Why hadn't she considered teleportation? She forgot all about her magic skills. Adamently, she headed towards the bathroom.

"_God, what does he think he is!?"_ Zelda pouted, turned on the shower stall, and unpacked her luggage. She picked out a white, lacy night gown. By the time she had finished bathing, the prince was missing.

"Where did he go now?" She frowned. Her sensitive ears picked up the rapping from her door.

"Hey Zelda," Peach waved a friendly hand in the air, "how's being roommates with Marth?"

"Wait... How did you know that?"

"Uhh, everyone's been talking about it, so, did you deliver the letter to him?" Slowly the princess of Hyrule shook her head. No way would she succumb to Marth a love confession after the fiasco earlier.

"Why not? She gave the dumb-founded girl a stern glare. She responded with a nervous chuckle, slight scarlet blush across her pale face, and a rub on the back of her head. Just then a tall, orange robot caught up to where Peach and Zelda were.

"Hi Samus!" Peach greeted and waved sincerely. Zelda put on a confused expression.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Peach giggled, "Samus, this is Zelda. Zelda, this is Samus, my roommate," casually, the two greeted one another.

A pink puffball riding on the back of a green dinosaur rushed right past them.

"Go faster, Yoshi!" The puffball exclaimed and started kicking about. The dinosaur turned its head slightly.

"Yoshi, yosh yosh!" He replied and scuttled even faster into the distance.

"Looks like they're heading out for dinner," Peach eyed at the passing smashers. The Hylian realized she hadn't eaten much before arriving. Her stomach grumbled for a few seconds.

"Let's get something to eat before they take everything, shall we?" Samus let out a small grunt and a nod.

By the time the three girls reached the dining room, everyone filled the majority of the seats. Spotting three empty seats, which was so convienent, the three girls settled.

"Aren't you glad you got Marth as your partner?" Peach brought up. Zelda turned her head towards the opposite direction, hiding the redness covering her cheeks. Her throat parched.

"Hmm... Having a male roommate... How romantic!" Peach's eyes shaped into vivid, red hearts as she imagined a cozy, romantic night with her beloved plumber sat across the table. Lovingly, the princess formed a heart shape with her index finger and blew a kiss. Mario began blushing fervently.

Samus rolled her eyes at how cheesy this was, and felt even embarrassed to be sitting next to her. The men who sat on the right and left of Mario looked at him in disgust. One of them looked like a fox with light brown and white fur, while the other one beside him resembled a blue bird tinted with several red markings around his eyes.

Zelda glanced somewhere else to find the attractive prince across and diagonal from her seat. Lovestruck, she gazed at the serious Prince and sighed heavily. Amazingly, Peach had not picked up this strange behavior, but someone who sat next to Marth gaped at her, and then smiled. He wore a tight blue suit with a red helmet, and was extremely built.

"Seriously, Zelda, that would be so romantic!" Peach sighed, which snapped Zelda out of her trance.

"Romantic? Isn't this a fighting competition?" Samus butted in after keeping quiet for a while.

"Oh Samus! Don't be so negative!" Playfully she slapped her bulky shoulder. The melancholy woman rolled her eyes underneath her helmet. Despite a thick layer of glass covering her visage, she mysteriously managed to still eat her food.

"And don't roll your eyes at me!" The stubborn blonde snapped to Samus's surprise.

Tired of listening to her friend's heated rambles, Zelda turned to look at Marth again. Someone sophisticated, noble, and mysterious like Marth was the perfect man for her.

"Ah, I'm going now," Zelda informed them while taking a last bit of her meal and left. Samus and Peach looked at each other, and then shrugged.

The princess dashed upstairs, pinching the middle-way of her night gown. By the time she reached the stairs, again, she was exhausted. Maybe she wasn't really in top shape despite her skinny figure?

"I'm gonna have to run up and down the stairs a lot then," wearily she panted, opened the door, and flung herself to her luggage. She was trying to unpack all her clothes and shove it into a nearby wardrobe.

'Prince Charming' stood at the entrance, leaning with his arms and legs crossed, a weary smirk plastered on his pretty face.

The Hylian sensed another prescence in the room. Slowly turned her head to meet the Altean prince's eyes. Her face began to redden like the numerous times she encountered him that evening.

"Stop blushing you fool!" Zelda screamed in her mind.

"Thanks for making an idiot out of me by calling me Martha," he coldly remarked and sauntered past her. Her heart pounded in a mixture of strange feelings she never felt. _Anger, sorrow, embarrassment, guilt..._

"I didn't mean to..."

"But the damage is done."

"You did it to yourself."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, I wasn't the one yelling out 'MY NAME'S NOT MARTHA' to the world!"

"But I wouldn't be if you spelled my name right."

"Don't put the blame on me you stupid Altean!" She cupped her hand over her mouth in shock. A proper lady like her should have never said something rude and ridiculous as she said.

"You are the strangest princess I have ever met in my life," he remarked in disgust.

"How am I strange?" She snapped.

"First, you ask for an autograph, then call me Martha and a stupid Altean," sarcastically he explained.

"I wasn't asking for your autograph!" She gave him a funny look.

"Then what were you doing?" He tossed a strand away from his face.

"I was... None of your business!" Her words faltered a bit awkwardly. The charming prince heaved a sigh.

"Is this how you treat someone you like?" Her eyes widened terrifyingly.

"M-me!? I don't like anyone!"

"Then why were you looking at me during dinner?" He inquired flatly.

"H-how did you know!?" Nearly screaming, she was confused why he would know when he wasn't looking at her direction at all. Merely, he crossed his arms.

"Captain Falcon told me," her body turned numb. She recalled the burly man sitting next to Marth looking at her funny. Not knowing what else to say, she turned her back and climbed up the stairs of the bunk bed.

"Troublesome," he muttered underneath his breath.

"I heard tha-OW!" The princess sat up, connecting her head to the closed in ceiling. Pain immersed, and the only solution for her was to grip it. She could hear the soft chuckles coming from the bottom of the bed.

"You are such a clutz," he scoffed then reached for his bed. She let out an exasperated snarl and forced herself to sleep, to no avail.

Marth, who was probably a little restless, too, sat on the bed in a reclining position to read his novel. The lights were still on by their bedside, stretching towards the ceiling where Zelda lay awake. For a few minutes, she fought the restlessness that consumed her, to only give in.

"Marth," Zelda reached over the side of her bed, looking down to speak to the young prince.

"What?" Marth asked in a tone filled with pure annoyance, eyes still attached to his book.

"I can't sleep," her complaint almost as quiet as a soft whisper.

"So? What do you want me to do about it?" He grumbled in a monotone voice and turned the page.

"Umm... Can you turn off the light?" She pleaded, her chin and arms resting on the bed railings.

"No, I wanna read. It's just eleven o' clock," he drawled.

"But... I always sleep around this time... I need ten hours of sleep," she begged.

"Deal with it," he continued reading as if no conversation was ever exchanged. Angered, Zelda crossed her arms stubbornly. What gave him the right to tell her this, just because he so happened to sleep near the lamp!? Assuming there was no other way out of this, she snatched the pillow beside her and flung it right under her bed. It slammed Marth right in the face, stunning him for awhile. Grumpily, he grabbed the pillow thrusted towards him, got off the bed, and met Zelda's eyes with the pillow hanging slightly over the railing. Briefly the blonde straightened her back.

"You know, I would have taken your pillow, but it reeks of your scent," he tossed it back onto her lap.

"Hey, I just took a shower! How can I smell!?" She retorted and cradled the pillow in her arms. When he turned his back to go back to bed, she thrusted the pillow again at the back of his head. Calmly, he bent over to pick up the pillow and instead of confronting her, he kept it. Confused, Zelda leaned over the railing to talk to him again.

"Hey, I thought it stunk! Give it back!" She hissed. The now impatient prince closed his book shut.

"I'll give you your pillow back, on one condition," he stood up and leaned towards her pointy ear.

"QUIT THROWING IT AT ME!" Loudly he yelled and pressed the pillow against the princess's face. Zelda became dazed from the amplified noise in her eardrumbs, but then an idea popped into her head. The corners of her lips curved to a grin.

"Okay, I'll stop throwing it at you," she claimed, but then started whacking him with it.

"Ow! What the hell are you doing!?" He tried to block the fury of attacks.

"Not until you turn off the lights!" She demanded and stopped for a moment, panting. The prince scoffed, flopped onto his bed, and did what she wanted him to do.

"Now will you go to sleep?" He growled and pulled the bed covers over him. Content, the princess did the same thing and curled her body around the poor pillow that had been tossed around. Her pointy nose pressed in satisfaction. It was Marth's scent on the pillow.

"Marth?" The princess of Hyrule called almost ten minutes later. Fortunately, it took the Altean prince some time to sleep as well.

"What?" He replied grumpily.

"Can you get me a glass of water?" She asked.

"Why don't you get it?"

"But you're down there, it's more convienent for you to get it for me."

"Please!?"

"NO."

"Are you going to leave me to die of thirst!?"

"Yes..."

"Oh!" She scrunched her face irritably, then flopped back onto bed. Twenty minutes passed, and the blonde never managed to sleep a wink. She needed water, badly.

Giving in to her dehydration, she scrambled through the darkness to get down from the bunk bed. Blinded, she tripped on the hem of her night gown, and the poor princess fell with a thud, landing on her rump. After the loud noise, Marth turned around speedily.

"What the hell are you doing?" He mumbled. The Hylan blushed while massaging her bottom. Marth clicked the lamp light on again.

"Getting a glass of water," she answered and fumbled to the door. Taking refuge of her abscence, Marth slipped his finger to where the bookmark was and flipped it open to the exact page he was at. Zelda walked down the hall that was poorly lit. Glancing back at her door room, she wrinkled her nose.

_"Marth is such a jerk,"_ she mumbled to herself while looking down in deep thought, _"But, I think I should have been nicer to him... Though I just can't stand being nice to him, no matter how hard I try, even if I do like him that way,"_ her thoughts were interrupted when she accidentally bumped into a certain villian she had known ever since she was a small child.

"Oh, I'm sorry," automatically, she apologized, unknowing the true identity of the obstacle until she gave a clearer observation.

"Well well well, look who's here, Princess Zelda," the ugly beast shot a revolting grin that sent chills down her spine.

"Gannondorf!" She yelped in pure shock.

"If I had known you and Link were entering the competition, I would have stopped by Hyrule for a lovely visit," he extended his fairly large hand outward to circle his finger across the maiden's jawline. By the touch of the antagonist, she jolted backwards.

"However, I can not leave to Hyrule during the contest, and since in the contract, we are not allowed to hurt each other unless in the middle of an actual fight, I will pretend you nor Link exists. Have fun, Princess," he passed her, sending her a cold, eerie breeze.

Due to numerous of terrible experiences with the villian, she remained her view of him, conniving, malicious, and untrustworthy. Rubbing her frozen arms, she scuttled downstairs for a glass of water.

While grabbing the empty, glass cup from the cabinet, she looked at the empty one besides hers and at her cup. She felt the need to be a lot nicer to Marth, so she filled both cups with ice and water. Tiredly, she slumped back to her room.

Numerous little kids and Pokemon were running around the hallway by the time Zelda reached them. They were Young Link, a pair of eskimo children, and another kid with a red cap and a striped t-shirt. All of them were fooling around, causing quite a bit of noise.

"Tag, you're it!" Young Link shouted when he touched the blue eskimo boy with the tip of his sword. There was a strange behavior towards the eskimo children, though. The boy glanced at the pink girl, Nana, next to him but instead tried poking for someone else. They were inseperable, Zelda assummed.

Suddenly, two bolts of lightening charged out of nowhere and huddled under the hem of Zelda's dress. Frightened, she picked up her feet to find two adorable rodents under her dress. One of them looked up at her when she tugged her dress away from them. They had black, sparkling eyes and bright red cheeks.

"Aww, so cute!" She giggled and stroked both of the Pokemon's heads. The others continued to play, but Zelda had a motherly instinct not to let them continue. It was dangerous if they continued to run around or they might bump into someone. She could imagine the danger if they rammed against Ganondorf or the spiky-shelled guy earlier.

"Guys," she yelled amongst them, "it's getting late, and you shouldn't all run around like this. You might hurt someone," she gathered them all into a group.

"She's not our mom." The little boy with the red cap hissed to the person next to him. The rest of the gaped at her and were about to refuse to stop.

"Uhhh... I'm getting tired, it is late," Young Link said through yawns. Everyone listened to him and headed towards their rooms. Only the boy with the red cap and short black hair stayed back.

"Link," he lifted an eyebrow.

"Talk to you tomorrow, Ness," Young Link lowered his head. Ness hustled back into his room.

Just when he was about to leave, he ran up to Zelda and wrapped his arms around her waist, since he was too short to give her a _real_ hug.

"Night, Zellie!" He smiled innocently and sprinted to his room.

"Cute," Zelda smiled just like him, her cheeks turning pink from his cuteness. Bored, the yellow Pokemon retreated back to their room which was only a few doors away from hers. Funny how they got the same room. Zelda returned to her room to find Marth, curled on his bed, facing the wall.

"Hey, Marth, are you asleep?" Zelda poked softly. The cup in her hands hovered over him.

"What?" He grumbled to turn around. Accidentally he knocked the cup out of her hands. The blankets, bed, and a little of himself were soaked. Zelda gasped in horror and grabbed a tissue nearby. She tried to wipe the remaining water on his bed, but knew certainly she couldn't do anything.

"Y-you... Brought this upon yourself!" She pointed and climbed up the stairs.

"That's it," he grumbled to himself and bolted up the stairs to her surprise. The princess pushed herself all the way to the back of the headboard of the bed, but couldn't go any further than that. When Marth was sitting on her bed, she gulped, thankful that the lights weren't on so he couldn't see her face which probably by now was a tomato.

"Okay, umm... If you won't sleep down there, then I will," she tried to scramble past him but he pushed her flat onto the bed, her head resting on her soft pillow. His hands were pressed against her wrists, trapping her.

"The bed down there is too wet, so I guess I'll just have to sleep here," she couldn't see his visage, but she knew very well his face was so close to hers because she could feel his warmth.

"C-cut it out, Marth!" She yelped, feeling the need to kick him for acting sleazy, but she didn't want to hurt him.

"You know how men are when they're lonely, especially with a girl in the same room, even the same bed," He smirked lecherously. The poor Hylian was practically yelping, blushing even more than she thought she could.

"M-maybe we should just date normally like regular people or something but if we jump to this than... This is just a bad idea so please get off of me, okay I like you but not enough to lose my virginity, oh God please not my virginity I'm scared of sex just get off of me, okay!?"

She jumbled so many words together. Not expecting this, Marth released her and fell back, laughing really hard. This was the first time she had heard him laugh.

"I wish the lights were on so I could just see the look on your face!" He sneered while trying so hard to fight his laughter. Angrily, Zelda formed into a kneeling position and held herself up with her arms reaching the mattress.

"Silly, girl, I would be in a relationship with you, even if you were the only girl in the world," he placed his finger tip on the middle of her forehead and jabbed, toppling her a bit.

"I'd rather sleep uncomfortably down there than share a bed with you," he insulted. Finding the perfect opportunity, Zelda grabbed her pillow and whacked his face with it.

"AND STOP DOING THAT!" he demanded and crawled back down the stairs so she couldn't do it to him anymore.

"Your fault! You spilled water all over yourself and acted so indecent to me!"

"If you just put the glass of water on the night stand and stop bothering me MAYBE I WOULDN'T BE PERVERTED TO YOU!"

"Well, I'd," The words were stuck in her throat. Not able to say anything more, she slid down the ladder to take a sip of water, and then crawl back up. The young prince turned on the lamp light and clapsed onto her shoulder after she drank a bit. When his back was turned on her, she stuck her tongue out of irritation.

"And don't stick your tongue out at me," he muttered while almost in the verge of dreaming. Stunned, she crawled back up the stairs before anything else happened.

"Uhh... Goodnight, Marth," Zelda piped but to recieve no answer. _Asshole._

P.S. The random word at the end was too good to take out.


	5. Two Sides of the Same Coin

**Note:** Yup yup, boring chapter ahead. Yeah, I cut it short, and it's not as interesting to read as the other chapter(s), because I needed to introduce someone quite important. I also needed to end this chapter because I was afraid that I would ramble on and on and might have it turn out as my last fic, where it was too much junk and not interesting at all. I shouldn't try to bore the readers to death!

The Hylian awoke from the sound of the alarm beside Marth's bed. Red digital numbers revealed it was eight o' clock. Last moment of her conciousness, it was around one o' clock while she tried to close her eyes shut. The clock continuously rang, and no one bothered to reach over it. Zelda cursed under her breath and lowered herself down the ladder. Poor Zelda had no idea how to work the stupid machinery, but all she knew was that the little clock was the source of the obnoxious noise.

Realizing there was no other way, she looked at the dreaming prince.

"Wake up," she jabbed at him. The large mass merely grumbled and shifted his position. Determined to get him out of bed, she continued to poke him. After a few agonizing minutes of poking and shuffling, the prince lifted his upper body and face off the bed and pillow. With his dark eyes, he eyed the disturbance beside him.

A warm, tingling sensation flowed through her light body when she saw the prince still looking as peaceful as ever. Calming herself down, she rose to her feet as the young prince stepped out of bed, the palm of his hand pressed against his temple. He caught a glimpse of the timid princess in front of him.

"Good morning, Marth," she tilted her head to the side innocently. Merely the prince stared.

"I need help with this thing," she pointed to the clock.

"...."

"Please, Marth," she pleaded. Merely, he let out a snort and slammed the top. The incessant buzzing ceased.

"Oh Marth, you're a lifesavor!" Zelda cheered, satisfied that the annoying object finally kept quiet. In response, he grumbled crankily, shoved his heavy bed sheets aside, and walked into the bathroom, totally ignoring her existance. This angered the princess.

"Well, at least say something!" She ordered, tightening her fists. The words weren't meant to be blurted out, but his quiet demeanor came off impolite, something the princess always loathed despite her hypocrisy.

"I usually wake up at nine thirty," he informed her and shoved the door open.

"Don't you need extra time to practice at least!?" She retorted back but to only recieve a cold slam of the door. Coolly, she stroked the annoying blonde lock over her face and sat onto Marth's bed. His ancient book lay at the bottom of the floor. Angrily, she kicked it under the bed, sickened of the thought of her restless night because of Marth's particular interest for it.

When he finished, she, lying on her back, locked her eyes on him. His hair sopping wet, still persistant in leaving the room. The Hylian rushed to him, facing his back.

"Your hair is wet," she frowned in disapproval. She didn't want him to catch a cold.

"I don't care," he frowned as well. The sharp tone was searing into her heart. Covering the hurt, she grabbed ahold of his baggy sleeve with a tight grip, almost to the point if she pulled back, the sleeve would be torn.

"What did I ever do to you!?" She shrilled. Her pride faltered when she saw the cold glare he gave her.

"Uhh, stupid question," she said, recalling last night's incidents.

"Okay, so I messed up, but is it really all that necessary to be mean to me?" Her voice wavered, trying to maintain a clear, calm voice without showing any hint of humiliation and sorrow.

"Fine, be that way, Prince _Martha_," she spoke confidentally and released the hem of his sleeve, causing him to fly halfway across the room and splat right at the door. A vein throbbed on the back of his head. Zelda's eyes widened in slight guilt, for she had not exactly planned injuring him in the process. Unexpectedly, he recoevered from the blow and stared daggers at the princess. This look was exactly the one when she mistakenly called him 'Martha.'

"Wait, umm, Marth, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-..."

"The hell you didn't!" He exploded. After that he walked away, leaving the offended elf behind. Poor Zelda fought the tears that developed in her eyes. This was not what a Smasher should act like, crying like a fool right in the middle of the hallway. After showering and changing her clothes, she bolted down the hallway.

"Zelda!" A gentle voice chimed. The princess in front of her raised her small gloved hand. Dumb-founded, the Hylian stopped so she wouldn't tumble into her. The blonde haired woman held out a pink cup of warm tea with a plate to hold it underneath.

"Would you like a cup of tea, dear?" She offered optimistically. Faking a smile, Zelda willingly recieved the cup and took a light sip.

"There are some biscuits in my room as well, would you like to come?" She waddled to her room which was a few doors away, diagonal from her and Marth's room. When the two entered, she could see Samus who was practicing yoga in the corner of her room. She fell back from her awkward position and met Zelda and Peach's eyes.

"Here for Peach's tea?" She sighed. Zelda nodded and politely placed her hands on her back. The room was totally different from her own. Peach must have remodled it, because the wallpapers were now a pastel pink with flowers embroided around the rims of the built in light bulbs on the wall. Her bunk bed was covered with a fluffy pink quilt, drawers were pink with red heart shapes as knobs, and the curtains of the windows were now a transluscent pink. Poor Samus did not look happy to see all this pink draped around the room.

Comfortably, Zelda settled on a white wooden chair decorated with pink roses on it and shoved the buscuits into her mouth hungrily but polite enough to leave no single crumbs behind. Out of nowhere, when Zelda's tea cup became empty, Peach hauled over a tea kettle and refilled her cup.

"Samus, did you eat anything?" Zelda decided to turn her attention to Samus, who was sitting on the bottom of the bunk bed, crossing her arms with empty eyes and a tedious frown. Her blonde pony-tail trailed down her torso all the way to her stomach area. Apparently she had not wanted to slip into her robotic outfit and was wearing a tight blue suit.

"Yeah," she replied so absent-mindedly and heaved a sigh.

"She's just a bit upset about remodling the room," Peach commented carelessly.

"I'm gonna go training now," Samus groped for the orange suit lying on the creamy, white sofa.

"Samus, how come you always go training with your orange suit?" Peach asked while sipping her warm tea.

"I'm defenseless without it," she replied sternly while slipping her slender legs into the outfit.

"But you look a lot better without it," Peach complimented, "I mean, you look really pretty. You just need some touch-ups then I'm pretty sure you'll attract the entire mansion!"

"For your information, I don't need to show off my body. I'm here to train, not to attract," truthfully, Samus had no intentions of looking beautiful. For her, she was only here to fulfill her mission, to defeat everyone in the competition. Friendship was useless, or she had thought so in the previous competition.

"Have you ever liked anyone, Samus?" Curiously Peach cocked her head to the side with questioning fingers holding her small chin. Coldly, the girl shoved herself into the suit and covered her face with a helmet.

Samus darted off. The two princesses glanced at each other and shrugged. Deciding to drop the subject, they brushed the tiny crumbs left on their dresses and headed towards Samus's destination.

Link, who spotted Peach and Zelda from afar, bolted right behind and rested his arms around her neck and shoulders.

"Zelda!" He shouted with relief, "I thought you were a goner!"

"Aren't you being a little dramatic?" Peach rolled her eyes at the sight of the young elves.

"That damn Marth was in the same room as her all night!" He finally released the shocked princess.

"What are you thinking, Link?" Peach lifted her thin eyebrow and crossed her arms, "Even if I just met Zelda, we should all know for sure that she's too innocent to engage in anything vulgar, and Marth is too polite and noble to do anything to her either!" Peach finished so confidentally.

"Right, Zelda?"

Memories of last night replayed in her mind. A flashback of Marth ran through her head when he acted seductive towards her to scare the living daylights out of her. Not realizing she was drifting away in her thoughts, her face began to flush right in front of everyone there.

"Uhh, Zelda?" Peach cocked her head to the side. Blinking abruptly, she nodded, hoping no one would pay attention to the different complexion of her visage.

"See! Told you so!" Peach placed one fist against her hips and wagged a mocking finger in front of Link, supposedly oblivious to Zelda's awkwardness.

"Marth is a prince, so of course he wouldn't do anything!"

"So what if he's a prince!? I just don't trust him!" Link barked at the victorious princess.

"Obviously, it means he's been born and raised properly, unlike you!" By now Link was so furious, they could have sworn his eyes were lit on fire. Falco, who was beside him tried to pull him back so he wouldn't shred Peach into bits. Eventually, the two decided to leave the arguement, and save it when they got into the fighting room.

The blonde beginner looked inside the room. There was Mario, excitedly beating up a white punching bag with his doctor counterpart. Dr. Mario threw vitamins while holding a baseball bat.

"Stay there and watch me, okay Zelda?" Link unsheathed his Master Sword while grinning cheerfully that Zelda was in the same room with him. She made a friendly nod and smile. The reason why Link had told her this was because he had no realization that Zelda was a fighter. Never did he realize that she could perform strong magic and even transform to her alter ego, Sheik, whom he knew was a skilled ninja but never recognized as Zelda.

"Zelda, does this guy like you?" Peach asked carelessly while picking at her glossy, scarlet nails. What was the point of painting your nails when you hid it underneath gloves?

"Yeah," Zelda replied, because for sure, it was incredibly obvious.

"You seem rather annoyed," Peach informed.

"Link is a great guy, but I only see him as a friend," Zelda replied solemnly. Truthfully, Zelda could not communicate to anyone else since her father believed they were too lower classed. He only accepted Link since he bravely defeated Ganondorf when their castle and land was in jeaopardy.

"I see," Peach commented. Soon her attention swerved towards her boyfriend. Forgetting Zelda was beside her for the moment, the excited princess of Mushroom Kingdom sauntered over towards Mario.

Link was too busy bragging and talking to his old pals. Even he shared not even a miniscule attention towards the Hylian princess, which did make her feel a little left out. Alone, she stood and observed everyone else's participation.

"_What am I standing for?"_ She asked herself and glanced at her hands uncertainly, "_I should be getting to work, but..."_

Taking the perfect opportunity, she sank into the dark depths of the crowd of unattentive smashers, and magically undergone transformation. Her dress morfed into plain complexions of gray, the hue of her eyes became red, and a flowing blonde braid cascaded her back. Her alter ego had a more fierce look, something extremely opposite of the innocent, gentle frame of the princess.

Not only did her overall appearance radiate such intimidation, her acrobatic skills were superb. Zelda was performing incredible stunts while tossing needles across the room. Some of the kids in there scooted away from her.

"I didn't see that person in the room," Samus gawked at her funny.

"I could have sworn Zelda was standing there," Peach inquired and the girls scurried towards her.

"Zelda?" Peach tilted her head curiously. The mysterious fighter eyed them.

"Hey Peach," she greeted, her voice deeper than usual.

"How did you..."

"I used magic to transform myself," she replied absent-mindedly and flipped a sandbag onto its backside. The uniqueness of Zelda's new appearance drew attention from the training crowd. All of them wondered who the smasher was, considering they had not even seen him or her aboard the Smash Mansion.

"Uhh, this is just Zelda," Peach announced loudly. Link's eyes widened. This was the mysterious ninja that followed him numerous of times during his quest.

"Was that you, Zelda?" He blurted.

"We'll talk about it later, Link," Sheik remarked, "and by the way, when I'm in this form, refer to me as Sheik, okay?" She playfully winked. Murmurs of shock and awe filled the room.

In the back of the crowd, Sheik spotted the blue-haired prince, Marth with his usual poker face. As the crowd dispursed, so did her prince charming. Disappointed, the blonde ninja heaved out a sigh and resumed training. Peach and Samus merely shrugged at one another and then trained. Couple of hours passed by, and the three girls were beat.

"I'm thirsty," Peach whimpered, "but I am way too tired to get any water..."

"Me too," Samus answered. The girls glanced at their quiet friend.

"Don't look at me, I'm tired and thirsty, too," the ninja commented, but the pleading eyes of her friends caused guilt to form in the pit of her stomach. Hanging her head in defeat, she dashed away.

Pondering while running off in an extreme speed, she realized it was most sensible for her to grab some drinks for her friends. She loved treating others, and amongst them, she was the fastest.

Meanwhile, Roy was taking a break as well, going into the kitchen to make a sandwich for himself when a sudden breeze whizzed passed him. Puzzled, he scanned his surroundings and spotted the speck in the distance.

"Huh?" He lifted an eyebrow, noticing it turned into the kitchen. Curiously, he scrambled into the kitchen and looked at the figure at a far distance. Sheik was preparing glasses of water for the other girls.

"Did I ever see this person before?" Roy gasped, taken back by the strangeness of this character. When Sheik passed by him, she turned to look at the astonished swordsman.

"Hi Roy," she greeted casually, leaving him even more confused as ever. _When did he ever meet her?_


	6. Gossip

**OMG I UPDATED!**

**AN: **Hey guys, if you're wondering why I haven't updated so fast when I said I was in my writing mood? Well, I'm writing fine, but just not the fic. The thing is, I'm working on a machinima called "The Adventures of Link and Samus + Mario" or TALSM. If you search it on youtube, you're bound to see it some vids regarding it. I still need some VAs, and well, I guess I'm such a bad person to use this fic as advertisment for it, LOL.

I also think I need to explain a bit about the long absence. I apologize. I'm also unsure if I am ever going to complete this story, I hope I do, but I need to be a bit realistic, too. In the meanwhile, I'll keep writing until I run into another writer's block. This story and the rest of my other fanfics have been my outlet. Whenever I was heartbroken or things got rough, I depended on writing in order to relieve myself from the stress and pain. I've been suffering emotionally and I've come back to writing. I can't find myself leaving the Brawl community permanently, ever. Machinimating and fanfic writing has kept me from hurting myself and sorry for the ramble, but it really means a lot to me. Thank you to whoever is reading this.

"Training is quite fun, isn't it?" Peach sighed in satisfaction. Zelda nodded. She had transformed herself back to her regular self. "We should do this again!"

"You're a pretty good fighter, Peach," Zelda complimented. The Hylian was pretty surprised over Peach's fighting abilities. Peach looked too motherly, too pretty to be dirtying her hands. Her personality made it even harder for others to believe she was capable of fighting.

"Thanks. After getting kidnapped often and watching Mario fight Bowser, I do learn a bit," she stretched. Mentioning Mario's name reminded her of him and she began to look around for her beloved plumber.

"Hmm, I wonder where he is," Peach pondered.

"I think he's still training with the others," Zelda replied.

"Aww, I want to be with my sugar lips," Peach sighed.

"SUGAR LIPS!" Zelda thought inside and fought hard to suppress her laughter. If she wasn't trying right now, she would be rolling on the floor, grabbing at her sides and busting a gut. The older princess could read the Hylian's expression.

"What's so funny?" She frowned and glowered at her.

"N-nothing!" Zelda could no longer hold it and she began laughing aloud. She could see her friend's eyebrows furrowed in annoyance. Peach knew exactly why she was laughing.

"Don't laugh at my nicknames, they're cute," she placed her hands on her hips. Zelda finally managed to calm down and cleared her throat.

"If you say so," she replied, but in her head, she was really thinking, "cute? More like corny!" As if the mushroom princess had telepathy, she responded.

"Most people say my nicknames are corny, but it's done out of love, so it doesn't matter. By the way, have you talked to Marth yet?" Zelda's humored attitude shifted awkwardly.

"Uhh, n-no," her face began to blush.

"Why not?" Zelda didn't even want to answer the oblivious blonde. "Are you embarrassed over what happened yesterday?"

"Don't remind me," Zelda whined, averting her friend's gaze.

"Oh come on, Zelda, don't let a small incident like that get you down! You can still win his heart!" The optimistic princess exclaimed in such enthusiasm. As embarrassed as Zelda was, she was still traumatized by the incident along with what happened during the previous night.

"I'm not sure," the humiliated girl lowered her head, "I don't think I'm cut out for a prince."

"Oh nonsense, Zelda! Marth seems like a pretty cold person at first, but he'll love you eventually," she placed her warm, comforting hand on the Hylian's shoulder. As flattered as the princess was, Zelda could not help but question Peach's background. There was some sort of connection between her and Marth. Her curiosity urged her to ask her how they met each other, but she disallowed it to overcome her etiquette.

"I'll meet up with you later, Zelda, I'm going to go take a nice long bath. I'm all sweaty from that work out!" Peach waved goodbye to her royal friend and headed to her room. Peach's room was only on the first floor, while Zelda's was on the third. Zelda had a lot to take in on what Peach had to say.

The red-headed swordsman heaved a heavy sigh. Absent-mindedly he pushed the door of a room, not even acknowledging the presence of his best friend, sitting beside the window, reading his novel.

"Wrong room," Marth merely uttered, not even bothering to look at Roy. Because of their closeness, Marth always knew when Roy entered the room. He had a distinctive way when his feet shuffled across the floor.

"Oh," he breathed and exited. Marth shook his head humorously. Roy was always a strange guy. For several minutes, Marth continued to divulge in his ephemeral solitude.

Another being entered the room, disrupting the prince's precious alone time. Idly, he glanced at his intruder then back to his book. Just when realization hit him, he looked back at the green being.

"Wrong room," Marth growled grumpily.

"Oh," the zombie-like Hylian responded without picking a fight with Marth like he usually did. He left the room without another word.

"Why does everyone keep entering the wrong room?" He thought questionably, "Maybe I should lock it." Marth put his book aside and got onto his feet to lock the door.

Zelda found it actually relieving how she was walking alone to her room. She needed some time to clear her mind, and she was still a slightly nerve-wracked after "showing off" her fighting abilities. Back at Hyrule, she was never able to display her talents. It was always surprise attack from Ganondorf, thrown into a magic-proof dungeon, and little miss damsel in distress waiting for Link to save her. Not only was she disappointed that she was rendered useless, but her "charming prince" was no prince at all but her best friend, her best friend that feels more like her brother. How sickening could that be?

The blonde princess smoothed out her dress when she approached her room. Marth was most likely on the opposite end of that door. Although she really liked Marth, his pompous attitude really infuriated the princess. Still, if she truly liked him, she thought she should at least be more respectful and kind to him. Perhaps a change in her tomboyish characteristics would have the prince hate her less, or even like her.

She thought of the way Peach talked to the other guys. She was just so naturally charming. Her personality made her an easy person to revere and love, and there was something in her that had Mario fall head over heels for her. What was that special thing Peach had that attracted the opposite sex? Was it the looks, cute nicknames, or smile? Zelda determinedly grabbed onto the door handle. Unfortunately Marth was right behind the door and the moment Zelda swung open the door, he found himself smashed against the wall.

"Hi Marth!" Zelda exclaimed cheerily, imitating Peach's bubbly and outgoing behavior. Noticing that no one had responded, she scanned the room for any sight of his obvious blue hair.

"Z-zelda!" He muttered behind the door, his cheeks squished, making it difficult for him to talk.

"Oops! I'm so sorry Marth!" mortified, Zelda pulled the door away from him, and the poor prince collapsed onto the floor. He staggered up with a furious look on his face. Zelda gulped.

"What was that for?" He panted, his face obviously portrayed an angry person but he did his best to remain his composure. The princess's, on the other hand, had a worried and embarrassed expression.

"I didn't know you were near the door, Marth, I'm sorry!" She bowed. Marth lifted an eyebrow, curious why the Hylian princess acted more polite than their previous encounter, but the Altean prince dismissed her behavior and sat back in his seat. Zelda hovered towards him.

"Would you like anything to eat, Marth? I could bring it for you," she offered. No response, apparently the prince was too engrossed in his novel to even pay attention to his admirer. This angered the short-tempered princess, but she tried her best to maintain her equanimity. "Marth, I said, would you like anything?"

"Huh, what?" Marth eventually tore his attention from the book in his hands to Zelda. He blinked several times dumb-founded, then asked, "What'd you say?"

"Oh come on, Marth, why are you always reading that stupid book!" The impatient princess blurted. She clasped a hand over her mouth, sorely regretting what she just said. It was too late to take back words. Marth looked equally piqued.

"You really don't know when to keep your mouth shut, do you?" The blue haired prince snapped the book shut. The blonde noticed the man's vein throbbing on his temple.

"I didn't mean to…" Zelda tried to explain but was rudely interrupted.

"You are the most peculiar princess I have ever came across," his cold eyes fixated on the princess's clear blue ones. The princess snapped. She curled her hands into fists and gritted her teeth.

"And you're the rudest prince I've ever met!" She shouted, "I'm trying to be nice to you and you're ruining it!"

"So ripping my cape, calling me Martha, dumping cold water on me, and yelling at me is being nice," he stood up and was now glowering at the princess. Defeated, she let out a shuddered sigh. She retreated to the bunk bed sadly.

Without even locking her eyes on his, she spoke shamefully, "I'm really sorry," she fiddled with the fabric from her bed. He could tell she was having difficulty apologizing. Marth heaved a sigh and headed for the door, leaving the poor princess by herself. Zelda looked towards the source of the noise. Her pointy ears drooped depressingly.

The dinner table wasn't as packed as before. Majority of the excited smashers were too eager for training that they preferred to eat later. However, several of the smashers like Mario, Bowser, Peach, Yoshi, Kirby, and a few others decided to eat early. Because Mario insisted on eating, his girlfriend decided to do the same. Peach also dragged her roommate, Samus over to the dining table, to the bounty hunter's annoyance.

The small group of hungry smashers sat together in the middle of the table. Peach had some scarce salad and breadsticks on her plate while Mario had a heap full of pasta, mashed potatoes and gravy, turkey, and other assorted foods.

"So Luigi has been telling me I should go on a diet," Mario poked at his food with a frown on his face.

"Nonsense! You don't need to go on a diet! I love you the way you are, my chubby widdle babykins!" Peach leaned towards her boyfriend and planted a delicate kiss on his cheek. Mario reacted with a cheesy smile on his face. Upset, Bowser dumped all his food from the place into his mouth and stormed off. The others didn't even notice he left.

"Do you guys ever stop making out?" Samus closed her eyes in exasperation at the lovey-dovey scene. The couple looked at her quizzically.

"What is this making out you speak of?" Peach asked. They were so innocent that they did not even know what making out is. Samus opened her mouth to say something but decided to keep shut. Grumpily she dug her fork into the mashed potatoes and rammed it into her mouth.

"You know, Samus, maybe you would understand Mario and me more if you had a boyfriend yourself," Samus began to cough and choke. She grabbed the cup of water beside her plate and hurriedly gulped it down.

"Me? Get a boyfriend? Never in a million years," she pessimistically retorted. The optimistic princess ignored Samus's pessimism and looked up into space with a dreamy look on her face.

"Aww, that'd be so great if you and Zelda had boyfriends! Especially Zelda! I think it's so adorable how she likes Marth!" She giggled to herself while pressing her hands against her cheeks.

"Why is it that a taken woman always feels the need to play matchmaker?" Samus remarked. Again, the day-dreaming princess ignored Samus's snarky words and sighed merrily at the thought.

"I can just imagine the two romantically strolling down the Fountain of Dreams, hand-in-hand."

"Isn't the Fountain of Dreams a battle arena?" The pessimistic blonde bluntly inputted.

"They would make such the perfect match," Peach beamed stupidly to herself.

"But Marth doesn't even like her," Samus spoke and this time, Peach listened.

"I'm pretty sure he'll get used to her. It just takes time."

"What's with pairing everyone, Peach?" Kirby piped in, Yoshi beside him agreeing with the pink creature. Peach snapped from her contemplation and focused on Kirby.

"Love is a wonderful thing, Kirby! You've been through it, so you should know," she giggled with her hands folded near her chin. She had a mischievous smile on her face and playfully winked.

"What's with that look on your face?" Kirby asked.

"I know about Ribbon, Kirby," Peach chortled. Peach's sudden note on Ribbon caused the pink creature to blush uncontrollably. He buried his face behind the dinner table. The obviously humiliated look on Kirby's face didn't stop Peach from talking more about love. She turned to Samus, who was in her own thought while drumming her fingers on the table. In a few seconds the bounty hunter caught Peach's big eyes staring at her.

"What is it?" Samus asked drearily.

"Your match could be here, Samus," the mushroom princess stated.

"And who do you think he'd be?" Samus scoffed at her statement.

"Uhh, Captain Falcon?" Peach teased. Samus's eyes became blood-shot and she gripped her cup almost to the point of breaking it. She loathed Captain Falcon with a passion. He was always flirting around and bothering her.

"Don't even mention him!" Peach gave out a nervous laugh.

"I was just kidding, Samus!"

"You better," Samus replied.

"Samus, why don't you let loose?" Peach suggested, angering the bounty hunter even more.

"This is a _competition_, not a bachelor's hotel. I'm not going to let friends or love interests get in the way of winning," she stormed out of the dining room.

"Ahh, that-ah Samus," Mario mused, "if only she were calmer."

"Yeah, maybe if she wasn't so hot-tempered, she could find a boyfriend," Peach replied while munching on her salad.

Zelda heaved a sigh. She was still upset over the outburst earlier. The princess lied on her bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. Her mind began to drift as she stared intently at the small texture patterns on it. She suddenly recalled Peach's room. It was beautifully decorated, unlike hers. Zelda's room was extremely plain, and there were ugly stains. Apparently Toadsworth was too incredibly penny-pinching to purchase a more luxurious, expensive mansion.

There was a rapping on the door. Alarmed, she bolted up straight, accidentally ramming her head against the ceiling. She gripped her injury in agony, cursing underneath her breath.

"Who in the world created these stupid beds!" She complained. The rapping continued, "In a minute!" Without even thinking, she rolled off the bed, hurting herself even more. Fortunately the carpet was soft enough to cushion a small portion of the pain. She limped to the door. Grumpily she swung it open, surprised to see Link.

"Link, what brings you here?" Zelda greeted the green swordsman. The Hylian seemed unsettled and uneasy. Zelda could easily read his expression. "Is there something wrong?"

"I… Uhh… Zelda, w-we gotta talk," Link stammered, trying so hard to keep his cool. Suddenly a brown ape came sauntering down the hallway. The moment he spotted Link he sprinted.

"Link, there's something wrong with the toilet," Donkey Kong said. Link slapped his face with the palm of his hand.

"Did you clog the toilet again!" He shouted aloud. DK had an embarrassed expression on his face. Link was about to take off.

"Wait, Link, but," Zelda paused when he swerved around.

"Uhh, later," he answered and bolted off along with DK. Zelda's eyelids flickered in utter confusion at the randomness of the scene. She began to question the oddity in Link's sudden apprehensive behavior. Nonetheless, she chose to dismiss the incident and retreated back into the refuge of her sanctuary.

With a single slice of his sword, the beaten up sandbag collapsed. Sand spewed out of the punching bag as several of the smashers in the training room with Marth watched in bewilderment. Marth sheathed his sword and raked his blue hair coolly.

"Ooooh! Marth is so amazing!" Nana clapped along with Popo. Ness stared at the skilled prince in awe as well. However, Young Link chose not to follow his friends.

"Ha, I can do better than that," he scoffed and crossed his arms adamantly. He swung a jug of milk and began sipping on it. On the other side, Ganondorf and Bowser were meticulously analyzing their foe.

"Looks like there's gonna be some interesting competition here," Bowser growled with a smirk.

"You wouldn't dare battle him, would you?" Ganondorf hinted a possibility of a duel.

"Puh-leeze, I would crush him," Bowser guffawed arrogantly.

"Sure," Ganondorf retorted sarcastically. His demeanor offended the Koopa king.

"And what do you mean by that?"

"You can't even defeat a plumber, how would you expect to defeat a swordsman?" Bowser growled underneath his breath threateningly and Ganondorf laughed aloud.

"You're not so tough either," Bowser insulted. Ganondorf quieted, "you can't even defeat an elf," the two all-time villains began bickering amongst each other.

Marth was about finished with his training. He spotted Roy who was alone in the hallway.

"Hello Roy," he approached his friend from behind. Roy did not make a single peep. Marth decided to tap him on the shoulder. Roy jolted in his spot and speedily turned around to face him. The panicked look on the red-haired teenager's face puzzled the Altean prince.

"Hi Marth," Roy greeted accompanied with a nervous laugh and smile.

"Are you on your way to the dining hall?" Marth asked.

"Oh… I-I'm not hungry, I'm on my way to my room," Roy hurriedly excused himself and fled. He took off before Marth could ask him if there was anything wrong. He decided to shrug off his friend's behavior and went into the dining hall.

"So how was training, guys?" Captain Falcon asked the fellow smashers sitting near him. He had an incredibly charismatic attitude that made the people around him feel somewhat comfortable.

"You seemed like you had fun with the sandbag, Falcon," Marth inputted.

"Yeah, every second I heard 'Falcon punch! Falcon punch! Falcon punch!" The smashers including Captain Falcon laughed raucously at Falco's imitation.

"Falcon, you gotta teach me your moves sometime," Fox chuckled at his roommate while chomping on a piece of meat. Samus entered the dining hall, which seemed to catch the smashers' attention, mainly Captain Falcon's.

"Hey honey," Falcon playfully winked at her. The other smashers laughed at his greeting. Samus was in her bulky, orange suit. She seldom left of her robotic attire, and only removed her helmet when she ate. Samus rolled her eyes at Falcon's coquettish demeanor and held out a hand.

"Ohhhh," the others reacted to her burn. She took a seat besides Luigi.

"Didn't you eat-ah dinnah already?" Luigi asked her.

"Yeah, just thought I'd hang out with you guys. It's boring in my room."

"Who's your roommate again?" Fox asked.

"Peach," she answered in a flat tone. The other guys looked at each other and laughed a bit.

"How is she?"

"Don't like her one bit," Samus brusquely riposted.

"That's not-ah nice to say, Samus," Luigi frowned, disapproving Samus's blunt answer towards his brother's girlfriend.

"Aren't you happy though that you got to pair up with a girl instead of a guy? You did complain about it often," Fox inputted. Marth was quiet throughout the conversation about roommates.

"How's Jigglypuff, Luigi?" Falcon questioned the slender Italian man.

"Ehh," Luigi couldn't give a proper answer. He was still afraid of the pale pink floating creature with an ill-temper.

"Wow, you're such a wuss," Falco sneered.

"It's ah very uncomfortable with ah girl in tha room," Luigi flushed, "for a moment I forgot she was ah a girl so I nearly took off my ah clothes when I needed to ah change," everyone burst into laughter.

"That sucks," Falcon said through his laughter, "speaking of having a female roommate, Marth, how's Zelda?" Marth was in the middle of sipping his water when Falcon asked him. He nearly spit out his drink. He couldn't even find the proper words to describe having her as his roommate.

"Have you guys done anything _interesting_ yet?" Falco smirked. The men laughed. Fox jabbed Falco's in the ribs while chuckling. Marth didn't even crack a smile.

"Do you have any feelings for her?" Falcon asked then continued, "I wouldn't be surprised if you did. She seems like a cute girl, and she's born from royalty. Sure she's a bit on the clumsy side, but you two wouldn't make such a bad couple," Marth slammed his cup on the table fiercely. It shocked some of the once eager smashers.

"No, I don't," he closed his eyes in irritation then excused himself. He sauntered towards the exit, leaving the others in an awkward state.

"That girl," he thought to himself, "I cannot like her. I _will_ not like her."


	7. Partners

**A/N: **I notice no one seems to be reading this anymore. The Brawl community is dying. I'll keep writing anyway. It's sad though that everyone around me seems to be moving on…

Zelda awoke, not even realizing she had overslept. Lazily she rolled towards the edge of the bed and lowered her head to peek at the digital clock. The red numbers read 11:04 AM.

"Huh! 11 o clock!" She let out a whine and tossed her blankets aside. For almost a full week she had been in the Smash Mansion. She had gotten used to practicing to not bump her head against the ceiling or roll off the bed. She clambered down the ladder, seeing Marth's bed empty. The disdain princess wrinkled her nose. No matter how many times she pleaded him to wake her up early, he always either forgot or purposely ignored her requests, the jerk. She scrambled to prepare her things for training.

By the time she reached the dining table, the breakfast buffet was empty. She watched in dismay as the employees reeled in the carts of empty plates back into the kitchen. Her stomach grumbled hungrily, but she knew she would have to wait until lunch time, which was two hours away. Although she was extremely hungry, she knew she had to train.

"Hi Zellie!" Peach greeted cheerily outside the training room.

"Hi Peach, aren't you gonna train?" Peach shook her head.

"I don't feel like it today," she stretched.

"But Peach, the tournament is only in two days!" Zelda was taken aback at Peach's easy-going attitude.

"Eh, I'll train later," the mushroom princess winked, "I'm gonna go out for a walk, care to join me?" Zelda thought for a bit. They have been training hard lately. Peach had been complaining about her sore muscles and bruises. She figured if she were in Peach's shoes, she would want a break. Zelda on the other hand handled magic, so although she would be exhausted after training, she wouldn't suffer as much physical damage. As much as Zelda would love to take a break from fighting, she knew her priorities, and she refused the offer.

"Ahh, I understand. Well, have fun training," Peach grinned and happily exited the mansion. Zelda entered the training room. Everyone was training even harder than usual. There were fewer voices in the room. The fighters were so intent on the upcoming match they had no time to socialize. As much as they enjoyed each other's' companies, this was a competition, and everyone wanted to be the winner. Zelda could see Mario rigorously training. Mario was last year's winner, and he was determined to let everyone know number one was his sweet home.

It was slightly uncomfortable for Zelda to be somewhere without Peach. Peach was basically Zelda's best friend in the competition. Although she is closer to Link as a person, throughout the time she stayed in Smash Mansion, she felt as if Link had been avoiding her lately. She spotted Samus and Link training with each other.

"Hi Samus, hi Link," Zelda beamed. Samus's face was hidden underneath her helmet, so the blonde couldn't tell whether the bounty hunter was happy to see her or not. Link on the other hand gave her an awkward smile.

"Hi Zelda," Link hesitantly approached her.

"Willing to train with us?" Samus asked in a flat tone.

"Yes, I need all the training I can get," Zelda smiled. Link had a doubtful look on his face. The Hylian was always concerned over her safety.

"Are you sure you're willing to do this, Zelda?" Link asked. This marginally angered the stubborn princess.

"I am capable of fighting. I thought I have proved this to you already, Link," she took a few steps back and suddenly began to transform. When the bright light began to dim down, Zelda was now wrapped in different clothes and had a more muscular figure. Samus didn't mind the transformation, since she and Peach had been getting used seeing it, but Link differed. The Hylian princess noticed the even more awkwardness radiating from her best friend.

"Link, are you alright?" She placed her hand on his shoulder. Link jerked up, looking into Zelda's eyes then gingerly brushed her hand away.

"I… Uhh, gotta go. I'll join you and Samus later," he walked out of the room speedily. Samus lifted an eyebrow, and then looked back at Sheik.

"What's with him?" She sighed while adjusting the canon on her arm.

"I don't know anymore," Sheik frowned, but rather dwelling on his well-being, she insisted she focus more on her training and worry about him later. The eager ninja picked out another sandbag and began punching away at it. Sheik did not notice the ice climbing twins standing near her. They wanted a punching bag for themselves, too, but they ran out. However the two were too shy to go up and ask someone. Sheik eventually sensed their eyes burning onto her, and she turned around.

"Hi Popo and Nana, how come you are not training?" Sheik approached the bashful two.

"We don't have a punching bag," Nana piped.

"Would you two like to use the one I have?" Sheik smiled underneath her white mask. The two nodded.

"Thank you, Sheik!" Popo and Nana thanked in unison.

"Hey, you guys found a sandbag?" The psychic boy with a red cap shouted across the room, "Yo Link, they found!" Ness signaled Young Link over as he hurried towards the twins. They joined the Ice Climbers and trained together.

"Cute," Sheik chortled to herself. She stood afar from the children. Suddenly, it came to her that she would eventually have to fight them in the competition. She started to wonder why Toadsworth was so strict on her and tried to keep her away from the contest when he allowed children to enter. Nonetheless, she chose to let it go but pray she wouldn't need to fight them.

Her vivid red eyes scanned the room, and she eventually found herself staring at Marth. He was alone momentarily, hacking and slashing at his own sandbag. Should she speak to him?

Roy was walking down the hallway. He just left the training room and was on his way to the kitchen. He walked with his eyes to the floor and his mind filled with thoughts. Ever since he had contact with the blonde-haired ninja, he began to feel strange. What was this feeling that overwhelmed him?

"Roy," someone from behind called out. The teenager was too caught up in his thoughts to respond. His friend extended his blue hands and forcefully turned him around.

"Oh hi Falco," he grinned stupidly. This did not amuse the blue bird.

"Aiyaa! Roy, where have you been? Can you do me a favor and clean up your shit? I'm sick and tired of picking up your clothes everyday, and man, even your boxers. That's nasty, foo," Falco nit-picked Roy's cleaning habits. Normally Falco wasn't the type to care about cleanliness, but throughout the time Roy had been his roommate, he had been forgetting to clean up anything and left Falco to clean up everything.

"I'm sorry Falco, I'll do that tonight," Roy apologized and was about to go, but his roommate stopped him dead in his tracks. He gripped onto the teenager's arm.

"Oh no you're not. You're gonna do that right now, got it?" He bossily ordered the swordsman and dragged him away back into their room.

Sheik contemplated for a few minutes, deciding whether to talk to Marth or not. He seemed intent on his training, and she was afraid of breaking his concentration. She was also afraid he would be incredibly grumpy. Nevertheless, she decided it was better than standing around doing nothing and walked over to the solitary prince.

"Hello Marth, may I join you?" Sheik asked. Marth looked at his company boredly, and then nodded. He continued to attack his target. Sheik didn't like the awkward silence so she tried to break it.

"You are really good at using the sword," she complimented. Marth didn't answer. "I've used the sword before, but I'm not that good with it." Again there was no answer. She frowned at such rudeness but knew better than to yell at him like she did last time. Instead, she went off, grabbed a beam sword in the item inventory storage, then came back. She hacked away at their target.

"Your grip is a little off," Marth criticized. A vein throbbed at Sheik's temple, but instead of totally considering his words as an insult, she tried to turn it more as a critique.

"It is? Well will you show me the correct way?" She asked. Marth reluctantly went over to her. He pried her fingers away from the hilt of the sword, repositioned the weapon, and then folded them back onto it. Sheik's heart beat wildly at his touch. Link had just entered the training room when he saw the two interact. He saw Sheik's beaming and blushing face. Jealousy smothered the green hero.

"What do you think you're doing!" Link shouted his hands on his hips. His loud voice diverted their attention from each other to him. The Hylian's face was reddened in fury.

"Link!" She exclaimed, shocked at the sudden belligerence in his tone. She was not used to hearing him this way.

"Don't you ever lay a hand on her," the green hero advanced so close to the prince they were only a few inches apart.

"And what if I don't listen to you?" Marth countered. The ninja timidly hid behind the prince.

"You're going to be in a world of pain if you don't stop messing around with her."

"I was merely helping her. No need to be upset."

"Helping her? The hell with that! Why are you even hanging out with her? You say you don't like her and yet you're still with her. First you're roommates with her and now you're training buddies!"

"You really are the lowest of your kind. Is this the way you act towards any guy she's with? You act as if she is your wife even though she has no feelings for you."

"Why you," Link reached for his sheathed sword.

"Please, stop!" Sheik shrieked. She threw herself away from the prince and pushed Link's hand away. Marth, on the other hand, remained his calm, not even touching his weapon at all.

"Link, I beg of you," Sheik attempted to separate the two bitter rivals.

"Forget it, Sheik, I'm killing this bastard!" Link growled ferociously, but was pinned by Sheik.

"Marth was only trying to help me," Sheik defended.

"Please both of you, be quieter, you're starting a scene," Marth began to lose his calm. The loud ruckus the Hylians were causing was starting to give him a headache, and it was embarrassing him. The smashers around them stopped training and were looking directly at the little scene. Some of their faces were eager, hoping for a fight.

"I'm not gonna back down! This pretty boy thinks he can just touch you! That lecherous pervert better watch his back! Yeah I'm talking toyou, you transgendered shit!" Furiously, the prince glared at the blonde-haired nuisance. The smashers around responded to the burn.

"Yo Marth, you gonna take that?" One of the male smashers asked. If the prince could, he would shove Sheik out of the way and recreate a blood bath. He would dismember that loud-mouthed pest and make him take back his insults. However, he did not want to risk elimination. One of the rules of the competition was that the smashers were not allowed to fight with one another unless they were on the battle field. Marth needed to cool down, so he haughtily stormed out of the room. Many of the smashers complained, disappointed that they were not able to see the fight.

Sheik motioned to run after the prince. Before she exited the room, she glanced at Link, heavily disappointed in his insolent behavior. She slipped out of the room and found Marth walking in the hallway. Link stood alone, trying to hide his face and shame from the other nosy fighters.

"Marth! Marth!" Sheik managed to catch up to him. She grabbed at his arm, but he flung her off.

"Leave me alone," he yelled, "I'm sick and tired of you always making a scene with _me_ involved! You're so embarrassing to be with!"

"I didn't mean to Marth! I didn't know Link would act like that!"

"And control your jealous boyfriend!"

"He's not my boyfriend!"

"Whatever the heck he is, he needs to learn his place!"

"I don't appreciate you talking down about him."

"Well I don't appreciate you talking to me, let alone standing in front of me." He slipped into their room and slammed the door shut. He left her to stand alone in the hallway. She turned around to walk back to the training room, but a few steps and she found herself collapsed against the wall. The blonde ninja buried her face in her hands and wept.

Sheik was upset about everything. No matter how hard she tried to befriend Marth, he would constantly push her away. She tried to change herself, but every time she faced him, she always ended up acting like her old self, the one she hated. Now she thought she was making process in the training room and her jealous best friend had to louse it up.

"Why am I even here?" She sobbed, burying her face in her knees. The door on the opposite side swung open. The spiky-haired teenager left his room.

"That Falco," he complained to himself. "'Waah waah, I'm sick and tired of cleaning up after you lalala' oh shoot me," he mocked Falco by using a phony accent. He suddenly spotted the crying ninja.

"It's that guy!" He was surprised to see him. He rushed towards Sheik.

"Hey, are you alright?" Roy knelt in front of Sheik. Sheik looked up and their eyes met. A burning sensation traveled his face and his heart began to race.

"Oh Roy," Sheik was equally shocked to see him. She shifted a bit, taken aback at his presence.

"Why are you crying?" Roy asked. Sheik wiped her eyes with her bandaged sleeve.

"I… Uhh…" Sheik began to blush. She was never the type to cry in front of people, so having someone like Roy, who she barely knew, seeing her so vulnerable made her shy.

"It's okay, you can tell me," Roy reassured her and placed a warming hand on her shoulder. She looked at his hand then back at him.

"Marth and I just aren't getting along. No matter what I do, it's like he hates my guts," her lips quivered, trying to contain her tears. Roy frowned. Everyone seems to be having problems with Marth.

"There there," he patted then withdrew his hand, "he's really cold to everyone, but he'll eventually warm up to you. I should know. I'm one of his closest friends. He'll love you," he smiled, "so cheer up!" Sheik sniffled several times then gave him a sincere smile back. This caused the teenager to blush.

"Thank you, Roy," she thanked, but averted his gaze again. Roy's heart was beating even faster.

"There's no way," he thought to himself, "there's no way I can be having these feelings. For some reason, I… I feel like… Hugging him," he looked at the vulnerable ninja, his arms were outstretched as if he were about to hug her. "I can't do it. That would be so, not manly." The strange feminine aura he felt near Sheik attracted him, but at the same time he assumed she was male. Sheik rose to her feet. Roy did the same.

"Thank you," she repeated, "I'm going to go back training, will you come along?" As much as Roy wanted to be with her, he adamantly tore himself away.

"Oh no, no, I still have some more cleaning up to do, I'll come with you some other time," he sheepishly grinned.

"See you later then," Sheik waved and walked down further into the hallway. Roy watched her as she became further and further away from him. The swordsman retreated into the refuge of his room and closed the door shut behind him. He toppled on his bunk bed. Of course he had the bottom bed and Falco had the top one since Falco claimed he liked heights.

"I can't…" He began muttering to himself, "This can't be happening to me… I can't be gay." He clutched his hair and whimpered in utter anxiety and confusion.

"Whew," Zelda transformed herself to her original self. She felt more relieved since her alter ego's attire was skin tight. The princess was just used to wearing flowing dresses all the time. The blonde decided to not go back into training. Instead, Zelda approached her room, and as quietly as possible, she cracked the door open wide enough so she could peek inside. Nobody was there. This puzzled the princess. He clearly went into the room. She wondered where he had taken off to.

"What are you doing?" His cold voice sent chills down her spine. She abruptly turned around, her back against the door.

"Where were you?" She blurted, taken aback at his sudden arrival. He let out an exasperated sigh, lightly pushed his roommate aside, and closed the door. Zelda also let out a sigh. She wasn't getting anywhere with him. Zelda found herself wandering down the hallway aimlessly. Suddenly the announcements were on.

"Attention all smashers," the pointy-eared princess was able to recognize Toadsworth's voice through the announcements, "please meet outside the front door of the Smash Mansion immediately." The speakers turned off. Puzzled, the princess abided the speaker and ran towards her destination.

As she fled to the front door, she spotted other smashers walking out. Confused, she grabbed the nearest fighter.

"Do you know what's going on?" Zelda asked while clinging on his arm. The floating Pokemon merely glared at her and pulled his arm away. She bounced onto a different competitor.

"Do you know what's going on?" She asked the same question instead to Jigglypuff. Obviously the pink Pokemon with a foul temper haughtily ignored her.

"I wonder what Toadsworth is thinking?" Zelda pondered while walking out. When she exited the building, she spotted Peach who was wearing pink glittery heart shaped sunglasses and carrying numerous bags around her arms.

"Peach! Peach, do you know what's going on?" Zelda was never this happy to find a familiar face. Peach titled her accessory so that it lay near the tip of her nose.

"What do you mean, dear?" The clueless spendthrift asked and that was when she started looking around. "Why is everyone outside the mansion?" Apparently Peach had just gotten back from her 'walk' that turned out to be more of a shopping spree. She came just in time to find out what Toadsworth had planned. After all the smashers exited the building, Toadsworth slipped out of his office with a megaphone in his hand.

"Attention smashers," he announced, "I am here because I have some news to share with you. Master Hand has decided to give a you all a whole month to train. Some of the battle arenas are still under construction and will not be fixed until about a month or so." There was a rippling effect in the crowd. Many exchanged glances in pure confusion. Although some of the smashers were relieved to have more time to hone their skills, the veterans and some cocky newcomers were disappointed. "However, there is a change in the competition. Everyone must have a partner, because every match will be team against team until the top eight." The smashers' eyes widened at the new information. They glanced at each other, eying the partner they wanted. "You will not be able to pick your partners," the whole crowd groaned in dismay, "whoever is your roommate will be your partner for the entire competition."

The words cut Zelda like a knife. Marth already hated her guts, and now that they had to be fighting partners, she wanted to drop down and die. She glimpsed at Marth, who also turned to face his partner. He had on a very intimidating, menacing look on his face. _Lord, take me now._


	8. Reactions

**A/N: This is just a short chapter. I doubt many people noticed it, but if you did, I mentioned Dr. Mario in the third chapter. That was a mistake. Dr. Mario will not be appearing in this fanfic, unfortunately, but because I can't stick him anywhere without it being so awkward having two Mario's in it. Just a little ramble. Carry on. XD**

**PS I hate Green Day, but I felt like making a reference here.**

"This can't be happening," Zelda muttered to herself, standing frozen. Peach skipped merrily towards her. She dragged Samus, her fighting partner, along as well.

"Don't you just love the whole idea of partners?" She giggled and twirled around, the hem of her pink dress swirling freely in circles. Samus stood beside Peach. It was a good thing for the bounty hunter to have a helmet. She would have been puking all over the place. However, Peach was excited because she loved working with people. It didn't matter how evil, how introverted he or she was, she loved company. As much as Zelda wanted to talk to Peach, she couldn't find the right words. The only words that she could think of in her head were "oh crap."

"You're going to be partners with Marth! Oh how romantic! The both of you training together, helping each other! Aren't you excited?" Peach just had to rub it in. Zelda was feeling the opposite.

Zelda walked back into her room after Toadsworth's horrible announcements. She didn't bother to approach Marth downstairs because she was still in total disbelief over Master Hand's random decision. She sat at a nearby chair, mentally preparing herself for Marth's vituperations when he enters. It didn't take long before someone was knocking on her door. The loud thumping noise startled her.

"Zelda, it's me, Link," Zelda was surprised at her unexpected visitor. Although she thought his random outburst earlier was strange, she figured he had cooled down and decided to let him in.

"Hello Link," she greeted, removing her hand from her head, "come in." The green swordsman walked quietly. There was a strange, awkward tension between the two. Zelda decided to break the silence.

"Have you eaten anything yet?" His back remained facing towards her.

Link ignored her question and asked his own, "Where is he?"

"Do you mean Marth?" Zelda inquired, assuming her best friend was referring to Marth. Feeling the hostility in his tone, Zelda resumed, "If you're planning to do any harm to him, please don't. He hasn't done anything wrong. He was only helping me earlier."

"Zelda, you need to get out of the competition," Link flatly stated. Zelda's eyes widened with shock.

"You know I can't back out now," Zelda replied in a gentler tone.

"It's not only that, but what if we have to go against each other? I can't bring myself to hurt you."

"I can't either, but…"

"Please do this as a favor, for me, for all the times I've rescued you and Hyrule, can't you just do this for me?" Link's serious tone took a more aggressive turn, which frightened the princess a little.

"Link, I'm grateful to have you as a friend and a citizen of my kingdom, but I have thought this so many times, and I know what I am doing. I am sorry but I cannot back out of the competition." She averted her broken friend's gaze.

"Why? Why the sudden interest in fighting?" He sounded even more aggravated. "Is it because of that sissy pretty boy Marth? How on earth can you like someone like him?"

"Please, Link, don't blame him."

"You were never like this until you liked him. Are you going to keep hurting yourself over a guy that probably hates your guts!"

"Stop it, Link!" The blonde locked her eyes on his, determined to not allow him to render her foolish. "Marth has done nothing wrong to you. Stop being so defensive for me, stay out of my affairs!" It was Link's turn to look surprised. He had never seen Zelda's temper flare before.

"I just want to protect you," his voice was stern but softer.

"I can take care of myself," she insisted. Abruptly Marth entered the room.

"Marth!" Zelda gasped. Her body trembled at his presence. She was praying that the two of them in the same room wouldn't create a blood bath.

"What are you doing here?" Marth asked irritatedly, "Are you here to lecture your girlfriend?"

"I am not his girlfriend," Zelda pouted. Link glanced at Zelda then looked back at Marth. Without another word he stormed out of the room, pushing Marth aside as he left. The two royalties looked at each other for brief seconds. Without another word he took his usual seat on the chair. Zelda eyed him guiltily. The two stood a few feet away in total silence, still in disbelief over Master Hand's decision. Zelda had to say something to break the silence.

"Now Marth, it wasn't my fault," Zelda whined, a little upset at Marth for behaving this way. Marth didn't even bother to look at her. This angered the stubborn princess even more.

"Is me being your partner really that bad!" Zelda shouted, fed up with his rudeness. Marth lightly opened his mouth open as if to say something, but instead he gave her a disgruntled look and kept to himself.

"Say it! I demand you to say it to my face," she challenged the blue-haired prince, "Just because I like you doesn't mean I'll stand here and let you be rude to me!" Angrily the prince lunged out of his seat, glowering at her.

"Fine, you want me to be honest with you, I will. I came to this competition to win, and now that I learn I have to be with someone whose sole purpose to join in the first place was to find a proper suitor!"

"How dare you speak to me this way," Zelda exclaimed fiercely, heavily insulted by the man's rash assumption, and she assumed his judgment was based on her sex and royalty, "just because I am a girl doesn't mean I'm here for romantic purposes!"

"Oh yeah? Then what about you liking me! Why do you insist on liking me still! Are you that determined to find a spouse here!"

"No! I am not looking for a spouse! I like you because I can't help it! I can't help the fact I like you! You can't control your feelings!" By now her face had taken the hue of a tomato. She was red with fury and embarrassment. It was strange for her to confess to him. It was even stranger confessing to him during an argument.

"Why can't you?" He asked. Zelda found it unbelievable he could even ask such a stupid question.

"Haven't you loved before?" Marth paused for a moment, and then turned away from her. From the sudden silence and flicker of pain on his face when she caught a glimpse, she could surely tell he suffered something. Deep mysteries and secrets were brewing in his heart. There is more than meets the eye with Marth. From the outside, Zelda believed like any shallow person would. He appeared charming, strong, courageous, but when she met him, he gave her a taste of his dark side, the side that was unlike many men born from royalty. He was discourteous and cold, the opposite of an ideal-like gentleman.

But that's what made Zelda like him even more. He is the opposite of the stereotypical prince. Zelda is the opposite of the stereotypical princess. These moments and now this one suddenly hit her. She looked back at him. Even when his back turned towards her, he suddenly appeared vulnerable.

"I'll do whatever it takes to win, Marth," Zelda advanced towards him. Gingerly she tugged at the hem of his light blue shirt. The Hylian struggled to fight her temptation to wrap her arms around him, knowing she would appear too pushy if she did, "tell me what I to work on, I'll change." The prince turned around and headed for the door. Before he left, he stopped beside her.

"If you're really that committed… Just do whatever I tell you to do," he left the room. The blonde could hear the door shut.

_I wish it didn't end just like this._

"Wake up, Zelda," his voice echoed in her mind. Zelda was on her bed, turned towards the wall. Groggily she shifted to face the outside of her bed. When she finally managed to open her eyes, she spotted Marth, sitting on the edge of her bed and glancing at her with a soft expression. He was smiling, at her. The moment he spotted her small blue eyes, he leaned his face towards her and kissed her good morning. The sensation of the kiss gave the princess warm, fuzzy feelings. It was as if his gentle touch gave her strength, and she got up from the bed.

"Aww, good morning, my Marthie-poo!" Zelda giggled, giving him a cheesy, romantic nickname. She wrapped her arms around his and the two laughed aloud.

"Wake up, Zelda," the voice intruded her mind. It was more harsh and demanding. Her surroundings melted away like a small flame on a candle tip. Suddenly there was pure darkness.

"Wake up!" Her eyelids snapped up. Marth was standing near the bunk bed, ordering the sleepy Hylian to get out of bed. The digital clock reported it was only six-thirty. Zelda groaned in irritation. Not only was she so disappointed that her dream wasn't real, but one of her pet peeves was waking up early.

"It's so early. Why're you waking me up so early!" She whined and splatted her face back into the pillow. She instantly fell back asleep.

"I thought I told you to do everything I tell you to do. Wake up," he sternly ordered her.

"Wake me up when September ends," She mumbled incoherently. Marth crossed his arms and shook his head at her. How would he be able to completely wake up this sleepy girl who functioned like a drunken person when sleep deprived?

"Zelda, no time for jokes, we need to train," this time he climbed up the ladder. His whole body was on her mattress.

"Great, I feel like some sexual predator," he commented to himself. Marth was kneeling on the bed. He crawled towards the blonde and lightly shook her. She didn't even budge.

"What am I going to do with you?" He sighed. To his surprise, Zelda shifted her position and grabbed ahold of his hand.

"Don't leave me," she whined. Her hands crawled up his arm, and then she violently tugged him towards her.

"What are you doing!" He yelled, fighting back by pulling his arm the opposite direction. When he thought he was free, she fastened her grip on the sleeve of his pajamas. The prince was half shocked and half impressed with her strength. For no reason, she decided to release him. Marth fell off the bed on his back.

"Fine, you win this time," he muttered exasperatedly, rubbing the sore spot. He rose from the carpet and checked the digital clock. Thanks to sleeping beauty, he was behind schedule. To make matters worse, Marth sauntered into the bathroom. He switched the power in the shower stall on, but no water spurted out. Marth heavily disliked starting the day without a nice warm shower to keep him fresh.

"I hate today," he grumbled and left the room. A few minutes, he returned after he discovered he walked out with his pajamas, "What is with me today?" He shook his head and went into the bathroom to change. Zelda, on the other hand, finally regained consciousness. The first thing she saw was the ceiling. She blinked several times, questioning whether Marth tried to wake her up or not. She could vaguely remember someone shouting at her.

"Marth?" She quietly asked. She shoved her blankets away and crept off the bed. Zelda glanced at Marth's empty bed. She didn't hear a shower stall running either, so she assumed he had left without her. Out of annoyance, she pouted her lips. "He left me," she whined and headed for the bathroom.

Zelda swung the bathroom door open, and behind was Marth, wearing nothing else but his boxers. The two screamed at the sight of each other. Marth instinctively covered his bare chest with the clothes in his hands. Zelda's mouth gaped wide opened and she slapped her hand over her eyes.

"Do you not know how to knock!" Marth snarled.

"I'm sorry, Marth!" Zelda shrieked and retreated. She slammed the door behind her. The" traumatic" incident caused her body to tremble and her heart beat to race faster. Her hands crept to her face. She could feel the heat spread through her fingertips.

"Ughh, I feel like a pervert," she thought to herself. Marth got out of the bathroom.

"Y-you should have locked the door!" Zelda stammered defensively. He rolled his eyes at the tenacious girl.

"We should get going," Marth said.

"I agree," Zelda faked the eagerness, "I can't wait to train!" She looked as if she were headed for the exit.

"Change your clothes first," he eyed the princess strangely. Before he left, he also said, "after you're done, meet me in the training room." Zelda looked down at her outfit. She had forgotten she was wearing only a thin night gown.


End file.
